17 Architecture, sculpture, use of money, navigation. What is meant by architecture? The art of building or erecting edifices fit for the habitation of man, to defend him from the weather, and for his domestic comfort and convenience, for devotion, trade, and other purposes, and for the use of civilized life in every capacity. Capacity. State. Condition. Is not this an art of great antiquity? It is almost as ancient as human society. The changes of the seasons first led men to build themselves huts or cabins into which they might retire for shelter. In process of time, their manner of building gradually improved, and habitations were constructed of more stately forms and elegant proportions, and greater skill and variety were displayed in their ornaments, hence arose the five orders or manners of building. Of what were the first huts composed? Probably of the branches of trees driven into the ground and covered with mud and stubble. At length, as men became more expert, they placed trunks of trees upright and laid others across them to sustain the outer coverings. From this they took the hint of a more regular architecture, and built edifices of brick and stone. The trunks of trees which supported their dwellings gave them a notion of pillars or columns, which they afterwards erected of more durable materials.  In warmer regions, their habitations are built of stakes, leaves, and turf in the shape of a soldier's tent. In Africa, their crawls or huts are constructed in this manner, but of a circular form, with a hole at the top to let out the smoke. In many of the South Sea Islands, the natives, when first discovered, had progressed still further, having learnt to elevate the roofs on poles and to fill in the sides of their houses with boughs or rushes, mud, or sods. Probably, most likely, edifice, a building, notion, idea, durable, lasting, what people are represented by the ancient writers as having brought the art of building to a greater state of perfection. The inhabitants of the city of Tyre, to whom Solomon had recourse for workmen to build the temple. Isaiah's, in his 23rd chapter, speaks of the Tyrians and the Egyptians as having brought it to a great degree of magnificence, as may be drawn from the various accounts handed down to us and the remains of their obelisks, pyramids, etc. What is an obelisk? A very high and slender, four-sided pyramid, raised as an ornament in some public place, and frequently covered with inscriptions and hieroglyphics. This kind of monument appears to be very ancient. They were first made use of to declare to posterity the principal precepts of philosophy, to mark the hours of the day by the shadows which they cast on the ground, and in aftertimes to immortalize the actions of heroes and perpetuate the memory of persons beloved. Inscription, something written or engraved. Hieroglyphics, emblems by which words were implied. They were used before the inventions of alphabets. Implied, signified, denoted. Posterity, succeeding generations, descendants. Immortalize, to render immortal, which means never dying, to perpetuate the memory of anything. What is a pyramid? A solid, massive edifice rising from a square, triangular, or other base, gradually diminishing in size till it ends in a point at the top. Like the obelisk, pyramids were sometimes erected to preserve the memory of singular events, or to transmit to future ages the glory and magnificence of princes, but oftener as funeral monuments and receptacles for the dead, particularly kings. Triangular, three-sided, having three angles. Diminishing, growing smaller. Receptical, the place in which a thing is deposited. Is it known who were the erectors of these buildings? No, it is a curious fact that the Egyptian pyramids, so celebrated for their size and great antiquity, should have the time of their erection and the names of their founders wrapped in such complete mystery. All the different authors who have written concerning them disagree in their accounts of those who built them, and nothing certain is known of their history. Founder, one who establishes or erects. Mystery, profound secrecy. What other nations excelled in the art of building? The Greeks and Romans, from whom we derive it, also greatly excelled in this art. Grecian architecture was in its highest glory under Pericles. Among the Romans, it arrived at its greatest perfection under the emperor Augustus. The five orders of ornamental architecture invented by the ancients at different times, and on different occasions, are of Grecian and Italian origin. They are the Tuscan, the Doric, the Ionic, the Corinthian, and the composite, each possessing its peculiar form and beauty, and found in all the principal buildings of the Christian world. Christian, professing the religion of Christ. The term is applied to those who believe our Lord Jesus Christ to be the only true God and savior of the world. Who was Pericles? A celebrated Athenian statesman, orator, and general, who gained several victories over the Lactamonians and other enemies of his country. Are all the species of ornamental building confined to those nations already mentioned? By no means. Besides the Grecian and Roman orders, other civilized nations possess their separate styles, as the Hindus, Chinese, Moors, etc., and nothing can be more grand, harmonious, and picturesque than each of these in the beautiful specimens which are to be seen in their several countries. The Saxons also had a simple style of architecture, distinguished by semicircular arches and massive plain columns. The Normans, too, invented a beautiful kind called the Gothic, distinguished by its lightness and the number of its ornaments, and by its pointed arches and pillars carved to imitate several combined together. The Gothic style is found in many old cathedrals. Hindus, inhabitants of Hindustan, in India. Moors, inhabitants of Morocco, a kingdom of Barbary, in Africa. Harmonious, corresponding in all its parts with equal beauty and elegance. Picturesque, like a picture. Saxons, inhabitants of Saxony, a portion of Germany. Semi-circular, only half circular. Describe the five orders of architecture. The Tuscan from Tuscany is the most simple and devoid of ornament, and its columns or pillars are plain and massive. The Doric, from the Dorians in Greece, is durable and noble in appearance, having its columns plain like the Tuscans but the upper parts more ornamental. The Ionic, from Iona in Greece, is neither so plain as the Doric, nor so richly elegant as the Corinthian, but is distinguished from the first two orders by having its columns or pillars fluted instead of plain, and the upper part of them, called the capitals, adorned by the figures of ram's horns carved on them. The Corinthian is very rich and delicate, with fluted pillars and the tops beautifully ornamented with leaves, etc. The invention of this order is ascribed to Callimachus, a Corinthian sculptor. The composite is compounded of the other four. It is very much like the Corinthian, and is also called the Roman or Italian order. What is sculpture? The art of cutting or carving wood, stone, and other materials, and forming of them, various figures or representations of men, beasts, and other objects. The term is mostly limited to carving images or statues in stone. This art is of great antiquity, the sacred writings and formats of it in many passages, as for instance in those in which are mentioned Laban's images, carried away by Rachel, the golden calf of the Israelites, etc. Sculpture as an art is probably more ancient than painting. What country was the most highly celebrated for its sculpture? Greece, which produced many celebrated sculptors, of whom the most eminent were Phidias and Athenian, the great master of this art who lived in the time of Pericles, four hundred eight years before Christ, Lycippus, a native of Sisyon, near Corinth, and Praxiteles, a native of Magna Gracia. What event proved fatal to this art? The death of Alexander the Great was followed by a visible decline in all the fine arts, but the fatal blow to their existence was given by the success of the conquering Romans, who reduced Greece to a Roman province. Was sculpture always performed in stone? No. At first statues and other figures were formed of wood or baked clay, afterwards of stone, marble, and metals, though these last were not brought to any degree of perfection till about 300 years before Christ. The Greeks were famous for their works in ivory, the great master of the art of carving statues in it was Phidias. What progress did the Romans make in sculpture? Sculpture, during their early history, existed rather as a plant of foreign growth, partially cultivated by them, than as a native production of their own land. They collected, indeed, some of the most exquisite samples of Greekian sculpture, and invited to their capital the yet remaining sculptures of Greece, by whose labours not only Rome itself was embellished, but also many of the cities of Asia Minor, Spain, and Gaul, then under the Roman dominion. Yet the taste for sculpture does not appear to have been cultivated in any manner corresponding with the advantages thus afforded them in the study of the best models of the art. The best works were produced by Greek artists and chiefly Athenian, while the attempts of the Romans were unskillfully executed. Gaul. The ancient name of France. Model. Pattern. Did it always continue thus? No. From the time of the Emperor Constantine, sculpture and the rest of the fine arts gradually revived, while inspired perhaps with a taste for sculpture by means of the scattered remains of Greekian art, the Roman artists drew at the same time from their own resources, and were by no means servile copyists of the sculptures of a former age. The first academy of the art was founded at Florence in 1350, and at the close of the same century, sculpture was firmly established in Italy, and itinerant sculptures, not unskillful in their art, wandered from thence to Germany, France, and even to England. The most eminent master of the art was Michelangelo, born in 1474, who was also a painter and architect. From his time to the latter end of the last century, sculpture again gradually declined, but under Canova, a native of Posaño in the Venetian Alps, it revived. He was born in 1757. Besides the above mentioned were a number of others of various degrees of talent, as well as some still living. Servile. Slavish. Mean. Itinerant. Wandering. When was the knowledge of sculpture introduced into England? At the time of its conquest by the Romans, but the art appears to have been very rude and imperfect. From the time of the Norman invasion, and still further in the time of the Crusades, an improvement however began to show itself in British sculpture. But it is probable that most of their best architectural and sculptural works were executed by foreigners, members of those societies of wandering sculptures before mentioned. Under Edward III, the art appears to have been much cultivated by Englishmen. It is well known that two Italian sculptors were employed in England during the 16th century. John of Padua, a pupil of Michelangelo, was master of works to Henry VIII. In the reign of Charles I, English sculptors flourished, although their works were of very low order. Invasion. Hostile entrance upon the rites or possessions of another. Architectural. Belonging to architecture. Sculptural. Belonging to sculpture. With whom may the School of British Sculptors be considered as commencing? With Banks, born in 1738, and Bacon, born in 1740. These were in every respect English artists. But the most eminent worker in the art, which that country has yet produced, was John Flaxman, born in 1755. Our own country also made boast of sculptures of superior talents, and from the beautiful specimens of the art which have appeared, the attainment of a high degree of excellence in it is to be anticipated. Attainment. The act of arriving at or reaching. Anticipated. Expected. Forseen. Give me a short account of this art in Germany, France and Spain. In these countries, as in England and the United States, during their early history, many of the best works were executed by Italians. Germany appears to have made little progress in sculpture before the 17th century. Since that period, it has produced sculptors of some eminence. Although it is more celebrated for its writers on the art, than for artists of eminence in its practice. In France, sculptors of some talent are mentioned as early as the 16th century. Girardon and Puget were the most celebrated artists of this period. Spanish history gives a long list of native sculptures, from the commencement of the same century, but many of them are but little known beyond their own country. Beruguete, a pupil of Michelangelo, appears to have founded the first regular school of the art. Paul de Cispedes, and in the 18th century, Philippe de Castro, were the most eminent among them. When was the use of money first introduced? It is not known with certainty. There is, however, reason to believe that both gold and silver were very early used as money in Egypt and Asia. It was afterwards introduced into Carthage and Greece, once it was brought to Rome, and from that city spread gradually westward, through all the Roman dominions. Before the use of money was introduced, the only means of trade was by barter, or the exchange of one commodity for another, a custom long retained by uncivilized nations. In time, however, men discovered the necessity of something which would enable them to trade with greater facility. The first mention of money is in the time of Abraham, who, we are told in the Bible, paid 400 sides of silver of common current money for a burying place. Current Generally received, passing from hand to hand. Where was Carthage? Carthage, now Tunis, was a commercial city situated on the northern coast of Africa, which long contended for the dominion of the Mediterranean with the Romans, but after three wars it was taken and destroyed by the Roman general Scipio Africanus in the year 251 BC. Commercial, carrying on commerce or trade. Of what substances was money usually made? Of metals, especially the precious metals, because they possess great value in small bulk, may be kept for any length of time without loss, and their value, although not altogether invariable, yet generally speaking changes only by slow degrees, and is less susceptible of fluctuation than that of most other articles. At different times and amongst various nations, however, other things in the scarcity of metal have been substituted for it, as shells, wood, leather, paper, or even passport on extraordinary occasions. Fluctuation, unsteadiness, a wavering. Of what form was money generally made? The form of money has been more various than its materials. The ancient Britons used as money rings or bars of iron and tin. The Lacodemonians used iron bars quenched with vinegar. The money of most nations usually bore an impression peculiar to themselves, as, for instance, the sickle of the Jews was marked with the golden pot of manna on one side and Aaron's rod on the other. Other coins were the figures of animals, etc. In shape, coins were either round, irregular, or square. Have the terms money and coin the same signification? Not exactly. By money is understood any matter, such as metal, wood, leather, glass, horn, paper, fruits, shells, etc., which have currency as a medium in commerce. Coin is a particular species always made of metal and struck off according to a certain process called coining. It is not of equal antiquity with money. In fact, the very commodities themselves were the first monies. That is, were current one for another by way of exchange. Coin is a piece of metal converted into money by the impression of certain marks or figures thereon. The first coining of silver took place at Rome, 269, and of gold, 206 years before Christ. The Romans, after the Commonwealth, stamped their coins with the image of the reigning emperor, which custom was followed by most civilized nations. Coins were and are frequently struck in commemoration of a particular event or celebrated person. When was the use of stamped coin introduced into Britain? After the arrival of the Romans in that island, the natives imitated them, coining both gold and silver with the images of their kings stamped upon them. But the Romans, when they subdued the nation, suppressed also their coins and obliged them to use their own. Hence the number of Roman coins found among the relics of antiquity in that island. Suppressed. Put aside. Hindered from circulation. Relics. Remains. What does the first coined money in ancient Britain appear to have been? Copper money. But after the arrival of the Saxons in England, scarcely any copper money was used for many centuries, nor did it become common until 1672. It was first used in Scotland and Ireland in 1340. What is a mint? A place established by public authority for coining money. In the United States, the first mint was in Philadelphia. Branches have been established in other parts of the Union. In most countries, the privilege of coining money is regarded as a prerogative of the sovereign power. Formerly, in Great Britain, cities, towns, and even individuals were allowed to coin money for the convenience of trade. But now this is forbidden, except at the mint in the Tower of London. What is meant by navigation? The science or art by which the mariner is taught to conduct his ship from one place to another. Some perhaps will consider the formation and use of the arc as a first step toward the invention of this art. But it is an erroneous idea, because the direction and means for accomplishing this immense work were afforded by God for the preservation of righteous Noah and his family. Besides, nothing is recorded of any means or of any necessity for its occupants navigating it to any particular place or from one place to another. No intention of this sort is apparent. The arc being merely a vast shelter rendered capable of floating on the water. Erroneous, wrong, in error. Apparent, manifest, made to appear. What probably gave the first idea of navigation? Accident most likely showed that wood always floats, and on the fallen trunk of a tree, perhaps, someone ventured beyond his depth away from the land. The trunk of a tree hollowed out for a more convenient position of the body formed the canoe, usually found among uncivilized nations to this day. From this rude beginning at great intervals of time and a slow pace of improvement, the art has at length arrived at its present state of advancement. What nation first applied this art to the purposes of trade? The Phoenicians, especially those of Tyre, their capital city, and Sedan, were the first to adapt it to the purposes of commerce and constructed vessels fit to make voyages to foreign countries. The poverty and narrowness of their land, as well as their vicinity to two or three good ports and their natural genius for traffic, urging them to seek foreign supplies. We hear of them trading to Arabia, India, Persia, Greece, Africa, Spain, and even as far as Britain. Vicinity, nearness, neighborhood. Traffic, trade, commerce. Who were the Phoenicians? The inhabitants of Phoenicia, a country of Syria and Asia. Which was the more ancient city, Tyre or Sedan? Sedan, having been built, as is supposed, soon after the flood, by Sedan, the eldest son of Chanon. Tyre, about 25 miles to the south, was built about the year 1252 before Christ by a colony from Sedan. The Phoenicians planted numerous colonies on the shores of the Mediterranean and the Atlantic and diffused, to a great extent, among their uncivilized neighbors, the arts and the improvements of civilized life. One of their most celebrated colonies was that founded by them on the northern coast of Africa, and it was this colony that built the famous city of Carthage. Diffused, spread abroad, scattered. Did not Carthage afterwards become as flourishing as the parent city of Tyre? In time Carthage not only equalled Tyre itself but surpassed it, pursuing the course the Phoenicians had begun and sending its merchant fleets through Hercules as pillars, now the Straits of Gibraltar, along the western coast of Africa and northwards along the coast of Europe, visiting particularly Spain, Gaul, etc. They even undertook voyages, the sole object of which was to discover new countries and explore unknown seas. The Carthaginians appear to have been the first who undertook voyages solely for the sake of discoveries. Were not both these celebrated cities destroyed? Tyre, whose immense riches and power, or the subject of many ancient histories, was destroyed by the Grecian emperor Alexander the Great, and its navigation and commerce transferred by him to Alexandria, a new city which he meditated making his capital. Alexandria, in a short time, became the most important commercial city in the world. Thus arose navigation among the Egyptians. It was afterwards so successfully cultivated by them that Tyre and Carthage, which last, as before mentioned, was subdued by the Romans, were quite forgotten. Transferred. Removed. Capital. Chief city or town in a state or kingdom. Who was Alexander the Great? The son of Philip, king of Macedonia, in Greece. He was celebrated for his great ambition and the number of his conquests. He overturned the Persian empire and subdued many cities and provinces in the east. Did not Alexandria undergo the same fate as Tyre and Carthage? Egypt was, at last, reduced to a Roman province after the Battle of Axiom, and its trade and navigation fell into the hands of the emperor Augustus, in whose time Alexandria was little inferior to Rome, and the magazines of the capital of the world were supplied with merchandise from the capital of Egypt. Alexandria, however, at last underwent the fate of Tyre and Carthage, being surprised by the Saracens, who overran the northern parts of Africa, and though it continued for a while to enjoy a considerable portion of the commerce of the Christian merchants, it afterwards remained in a languishing condition. But still, even at this day, it is a place of considerable trade. Who were the Saracens? A Mohammedan nation occupying a portion of what is now called Arabia. They extended their conquests over a large portion of Asia, northern Africa, and Spain. Their name is derived from the word Sada, desert. What effect had the fall of the Roman Empire on navigation? The fall of the Roman Empire not only drew along with it its learning and the polite arts, but also the art of navigation. The barbarians, into whose hands the empire fell, contending themselves with enjoying the spoils of those whom they had conquered, without seeking to follow their example in the cultivation of those arts, and that learning which had rendered Rome and its empire so famous. What other people about this period distinguished themselves in the art of navigation? The Saracens, or Arabians, whose fleets now rode triumphant in the Mediterranean, they had taken possession of Cyprus, roads, and many of the Grecian islands, and extended their commerce and their discoveries in the east far beyond the utmost knowledge of their ancestors. What other circumstance also prevented commercial intercourse from ceasing altogether? Constantinople, though often threatened by the fierce invaders who spread desolation over Europe, was so fortunate as to escape their destructive rage. In this city the knowledge of ancient arts and discoveries was preserved, and commerce continued to flourish there when it was almost extinct in every other part of Europe. Desolation, destruction, ruin. Did the citizens of Constantinople confine their trade to the islands of the archipelago, on the adjacent coast of Asia? No, they took a wider range and followed the course which the ancients had marked out, imported the productions of the East Indies from Alexandria. When Egypt was torn from the Roman Empire by the Arabians, the industry of the Greeks discovered a new channel by which the productions of India might be conveyed to Constantinople. Did not the barbarians, after a while, turn their attention to navigation and commerce? No sooner were the brave among these nations well settled in their new provinces, some in Gaul as the Franks, others in Spain as the Goths, and others in Italy as the Lombards. Then they began to learn the advantages of these arts, and the proper methods of managing them, from the people they had subdued, and that with so much success that they even improved upon them, and set on foot new institutions for their advantage. To the Lombards in particular is usually ascribed the invention and use of banks, bookkeeping, and exchanges. Thus the people of Italy, and particularly those of Venice and Genoa, have the glory of restoring to Europe the advantages that had been destroyed by their own ravages. Institutions, Laws, Regulations, Exchange A species of mercantile transactions by which the debts due to persons at a distance are paid by order, draft, or bill of exchange, without the transmission either of money or goods. Who were the Franks? A people who settled in Gaul, from them it took the name of Franconia or France. Who were the Goths? An ancient people who inhabited that part of Sweden called Gothland, and afterwards spread themselves over a great part of Europe. Who were the Lombards? The Lombards or Longobardi were, like the Franks, a nation of Germany, who upon the decline of the Roman Empire, invaded Italy, and taking the city of Ravenna, erected a kingdom. Where is Ravenna? In central Italy, it is the capital of a province of the same name. It is an ancient town, and the sea of an archbishop. Sea, the seat of Episcopal power, the diocese of a bishop. Episcopal, belonging to a bishop. Archbishop, the presiding bishop of a province. What was the origin of the city of Venice? In the Adriatic Sea were a great number of marshy islands separated only by a narrow channels, but well screened and almost inaccessible, inhabited by a few fishermen. To these islands the people of Veneti, a part of Italy situated along the coasts of the Gulf, retired when Alaric, king of the Goths, ravaged Italy. These new islanders, little imagining that this was to be their fixed residence, did not at first think of forming themselves into one community, but each of the 72 islands continued a long while under its respective masters and formed a distinct Commonwealth. Adriatic Sea, a name given to the Gulf of Venice. Commonwealth, a republic, a government in which the supreme power is lodged in the people. What circumstance caused them to unite? Their commerce, being considerable enough to awaken the jealousy of their neighbors, they united in a body for their mutual protection. This union, first begun in the sixth century and completed in the eighth, laid the foundation of the future grandeur of the State of Venice. From the time of this union fleets of their merchant men sailed to all the ports of the Mediterranean and afterwards to those of Egypt, particularly to Cairo, a new city, built by the Saracen princes on the banks of the Nile, where they traded for spices, etc. The Venetians continued to increase their trade by sea and their conquests on land until 1508, when a number of jealous princes conspired against them to their ruin, which was the more easily affected in consequence of their East Indian commerce, of which the Portuguese and French had each obtained a share. Conspired, united together in a plot. What is the signification of Mediterranean? Enclosed within land or remote from the ocean, it is more particularly used to signify the sea which flows between Europe and Africa. Had not Venice a formidable rival in a neighboring republic? Genoa, which had applied itself to navigation at the same time with Venice and with equal success, was long its dangerous rival, disputed with it the empire of the sea and shared with it the trade of the Egypt and other parts, both of the east and west. Jealousy soon broke out, and the two republics coming to blows, there was almost continual war between them for three centuries. At length, towards the end of the 14th century, the strife was ended by the fatal battle of Chioza. The Genoese, who till then had usually had the advantage, lost all, and the Venetians almost become desperate at one decisive blow beyond all expectation, secured the empire of the sea and their superiority in commerce. Decisive, final, conclusive. Where is Genoa situated? In the northwestern part of Italy. It was formerly a flourishing republic, but belongs now to Italy. What event likewise contributed to the more rapid progress and diffusion of navigation and commerce? The Crusades. For the Genoese, Pizzans, and Venetians furnished the fleets which carried those vast armies, composed of all the nations of Europe, into Asia, upon this wild undertaking, and also supplied them with provisions and military stores. Other travelers, also being those whom religious zeal sent forward to visit Asia, ventured into remote countries from motives either of commercial advantage or those of mere curiosity. Zeal, devotion, enthusiasm. Who were the Pizzans? Inhabitants of Pisa, an ancient town of Tuscany, was once a great independent republic, and is still adorned with noble edifices. Pisa has long been celebrated for its remarkable leaning tower. Tuscany is a beautiful and fruitful territory of Italy. Its capital until the year 1859 was Florence. What were the Crusades? Holy wars or expeditions undertaken by the Christians against the Turks and Saracens to recover Palestine between the years 1100 and 1400. What causes led to these wars? Many circumstances contributed to give rise to them. They were undertaken first with a view to protecting the devout Christian pilgrims, who were in the habit of frequenting the venerable places where our Savior had lived, taught, suffered, and triumphed from the fury and avarice of the heathens. Secondly, with a view to getting possession of the Holy Land itself and of annexing it to Christendom. And thirdly, to break down the power of Mohammedanism and to elevate the cross in triumph and victory over Palestine. Avarice, an excessive desire of gain. Annexing, adding, joining. What badge or sign was worn by those who engaged in the Crusades? They distinguished themselves by crosses of different colors worn on their clothes, from which they took the name of Quasay, or cross-bearers. Each nation wore different colors. For instance, the English had white crosses, the French red, and so on. To what invention is the art of navigation much indebted? To that of the mariners' compass in the beginning of the 14th century, and from this period may be dated the present perfection of this useful art. You have given me an account of the restoration of navigation in Southern Europe. Did not the inhabitants of the North also turn their attention to it? Yes, about the same time a new society of merchants was formed in the Northern parts, which not only carried commerce to the greatest perfection of which it was capable, till the discovery of the Indies, but also formed new codes of useful laws for its regulation. Codes, books or writings setting forth certain laws or rules respecting particular subjects, books of civil laws. Are navigation and commerce inseparably connected with each other? It may be considered as a general maxim that their union is so intimate that the fall of one inevitably draws after it that of the other, and that they will always either flourish or decline together may be seen by examining the reason of their passing successively from the Venetians, Genoese, etc., to the Portuguese and Spaniards, and from them to the English, Dutch, etc. Maxim, Rule, and Established Principle Intimate, Close, Inevitably, Without Possibility of Escape, Unavoidably End of Chapter 17 Recording by Kalinda in Raymond, New Hampshire, on December 20th, 2007 Chapter 18 Of A Catechism of Familiar Things This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. A Catechism of Familiar Things, Their History, and The Events Which Led to Their Discovery Chapter 18 Music, Painting, Poetry, Astronomy, Arts and Sciences, Art of Writing and Chemistry What are the earliest accounts of musical instruments on record? The earliest accounts of music which we possess are to be found in the Bible, in which the State of the World before the Flood is noticed. Jubal is said to have been the father of them that play upon the harp and organ, but it is not to be supposed that these instruments at all resembled the harp and organ of modern times. Musical instruments in the times of David and Solomon were used in religious services, and music was certainly employed by the Jews on many other occasions, as at funerals and weddings, at harvest home, and at festivals of all kinds. What nation was particularly celebrated for musical talents? The ancient Egyptians who were so celebrated for their talents in music that the distinguished philosophers of Greece braved many dangers in order to study the science in Egypt, and this at a period when the Egyptians were far from being in the same high State of Civilization as their forefathers had been in earlier times. The history and monuments of ancient Egypt have many accounts and representations of musical instruments, and remains of these have been lately discovered, so that we have ocular demonstration both of their existence and form. In how many divisions may musical instruments be arranged? There are three kinds, namely wind instruments as the trumpet and the organ, stringed instruments as the harp or lyre, violin, etc., and instruments of concussion in which the sound is produced by striking a sonorous body, as for instance the drum, bells, etc. Which of these three kinds was the first invented? It is impossible at the present day to decide which, but it is most probable that instruments with strings were the last invented of the three kinds, and it is most likely that of those in which the sound is produced by the application of wind, the trumpeter horn was first used. This instrument in its rudest form was ready fashion to the hand of man. The horn of a ram or of an ox, or of some of the larger kinds of seashells, were soon discovered to possess the power of producing sound by being blown into through a small hole at the pointed end. What improvement in this instrument would naturally follow? Mankind, having discovered the property possessed by a hollow tube of producing a certain sound, soon found that the note varied according to the length and capacity of the tube. A much greater improvement soon after took place, it was discovered that one tube answered the purpose of many by boring holes in the course of its length, and producing various musical sounds by stopping with the fingers certain of these holes. Most of our modern wind instruments are but improvements on the ancient inventions. Was not vocal music used before the invention of instrumental? Vocal music, namely, that produced by the human voice, so-called to distinguish it from instrumental, that produced by instruments, was undoubtedly the first, for man had not only the various tones of his own voice to make his observations on before any art or instrument was found out, but the various natural strains of birds to give him a lesson in improving it, and in modulating the sounds of which it is capable. To what circumstance did an ancient poet ascribe the invention of stringed instruments? To the observation of the winds whistling in the hollow reeds. As for other kinds of instruments, there were so many occasions for chords or strings that men were not long in observing their various sounds, which might give rise to stringed instruments. Those of concussion, as drums and cymbals, might result from the observation of the naturally hollow noise made by concave bodies when struck. What are the most ancient stringed instruments? The most ancient instruments of this kind, whose form is known, are those of the ancient Egyptians. Among these, the harp stands preeminent. One of the most celebrated representations of an Egyptian harp was drawn from a painting discovered in one of the caverns in the mountains of Egyptian thieves by some travelers. It is called the Theban harp and has thirteen strings. Its form is extremely elegant. This harp is supposed to be one of the kind in use at the time of Cisostris. Remains of Egyptian harps of a more simple construction, with only four strings, have likewise been discovered. Among the monuments of ancient Rome, there are representations of stringed instruments resembling the harp, but not equal in beauty a form to the famous Egyptian harp already mentioned. Who was Cisostris? A king of Egypt, who is said to have reigned some ages before the Siege of Troy. He appears to have been celebrated for his conquests and for the number of edifices he erected to perpetuate his fame. Where was Troy? Troy, anciently called Ilium, was the capital of Troas, in Asia. It became famous for the ten years siege it sustained against the Greeks. The history of this event is commemorated in the poems of Homer and Virgil. Is not the harp an instrument of high antiquity in Great Britain? Yes, it was a favourite instrument with the ancient Saxons in Great Britain. The celebrated Alfred entered the Danish camp disguised as a harper, because the harpers passed through the midst of the enemy unmolested on account of their calling. The same deception was likewise practiced by several Danish chiefs in the camp of Athelston, the Saxon. The Bards, or harpers of old, were the historians of the time. They handed down from generation to generation the history of remarkable events, and of the deeds and lineage of their celebrated chiefs and princes. The harpers of Britain were formerly admitted to the banquets of kings and nobles. Their employment was to sing or recite the achievements of their patrons, accompanying themselves on the harp. No nations have been more famous for their harps and harpers than the Welsh and Irish. What instrument was famous among the ancient Greeks? The lyre, the invention, or rather discovery of this instrument, is ascribed by them to their most celebrated deities. It is supposed to have originated from the discovery of a dead tortoise, the flesh of which had dried and wasted so that nothing was left within the shell but sinews and cartilages. These, tightened and contracted on account of their dryness, were rendered sonorous. Some one, Mercury or Apollo, they affirm, in walking along, happened to strike his foot against the tortoise, was greatly pleased with the sound it produced, thus was suggested to him the first idea of a lyre, which he afterwards constructed in the form of a tortoise, and strung with the dried sinews of dead animals. The stringed instruments already described were made to give out musical sounds by causing a vibratory motion in their strings by means of the fingers. Who was Mercury? The heathen god of eloquence, letters, etc., and the messenger of the other gods. Who was Apollo? The god of music, poetry, medicine, and the fine arts. What is a tortoise? A well-known animal with a thick, shelly covering belonging to the order of reptiles. There are two species, the sea and the land tortoise. The first is called a turtle and affords delicious food. Land tortoises live to a very great age. It is only one sort which furnishes the beautiful shell so much prized. Tortoises are found in many parts of the world. The turtles on the Brazilian shore are said to be so large as to be enough to dine four score men, and in the Indian sea the shells serve the natives for boats. Of what are the strings of the lyre, etc., composed? Sometimes of either brass or silver wire, but most commonly of cat-gut. What is cat-gut? The intestines of sheep or lambs dried or twisted, either singly or several together. Cat-gut is also used by watchmakers, cutlers, and other artificers in their different trades. Great quantities are imported from France and Italy. Are there no other kind of instruments besides those already described? Yes, music and musical instruments have progressively improved, and it would be a needless task to enumerate the numbers of instruments of each kind now in use. Many, as for instance the organ, the piano, musical boxes, etc., are exceedingly complex and ingenious in their construction, as well as remarkable for the sweetness of their various sounds. Some, as the two first named, are played with the fingers and produce any melody or combination of sound at the will of the performer. Others, as the musical box, barrel organ, etc., produce a particular kind of melody or a certain number of melodies by means of machinery. In the last named, the performer is not at all indebted to his own musical skill, as he only has to turn the handle which sets the machinery in motion, and the musical box or barrel organ will continue playing until it has finished the tunes to which it is set. Upon what principle do these last mentioned instruments perform? The barrel organ and musical box both play on nearly the same principle, though the former is turned by a handle, and the latter only requires a certain spring to be touched in order to set it off or to stop it. Their machinery consists of a barrel pricked with brass pins. When the barrel revolves, these pins lift a series of steel springs of different lengths and thicknesses, and the vibration of these springs when released produces the different notes. What is painting? The art of representing objects in nature or scenes in human life with fidelity and expression, either in oil or watercolors, etc. Is not this art of great antiquity? There is not the slightest doubt of it, but to name the country where it was first practiced or the circumstances attending its origin is beyond the power of the historian. About a century after the call of Abraham, Greek and Egyptian tradition tells us of a colony planted at Sisyon by an Egyptian who brought with him the knowledge of painting and sculpture and founded the earliest and purest school of Greek art. The walls of Babylon were adorned with paintings of different kinds of animals, hunting, expedition, combats, etc. Illusions to this custom of the Babylonians of decorating their walls with paintings are found in the Bible. Were the Egyptians acquainted with this art? It is now little doubted that, although painting and sculpture existed in Egypt and were probably at their highest condition, eighteen centuries before the Christian era, yet at a still earlier period, these arts were known in the Kingdom of Ethiopia, and it is considered likely that the course of civilization descended from Ethiopia to Egypt. There is, however, no record of any Egyptian painter in the annals of the art, and it does not appear that it ever flourished in that country or that other nations were much indebted to Egypt for their knowledge of it. Have we any notice of this art among the Hebrews? There is no illusion made to the existence of painting among this people, and no proof that it was cultivated among them. It is supposed that the neglect of this art arose from their not being permitted to represent any object by painting. What progress did the generality of the Eastern nations make in this art? The art of painting among the Phoenicians, Persians, and other Eastern nations advanced but slowly. The Chinese appear until a very recent period to have contented themselves with only so much knowledge of the art as might enable them to decorate their beautiful porcelain and other wares. Their taste is very peculiar, and though the penciling of their birds and flowers is delicate, yet their figures of men and animals are distorted and out of proportion and of perspective they seem to have but little idea. Laterally, however, a change has taken place in Chinese art, and proofs have been given of an attempt to imitate European skill. The Japanese figures approach more nearly to beauty of style than Chinese productions of a similar kind. Who are the Japanese? The inhabitants of Japan, an empire of Eastern Asia, composed of several large islands. They are so similar in feature and in many of their customs and ceremonies to the Chinese as to be regarded by some as the same race of men. The Japanese language is so very peculiar that it is rarely understood by the people of other nations. Their religion is idolatrous, their government a monarchy controlled by the priesthood. The people are very ingenious, and the arts and sciences are held in great esteem by them. In all respects, Japan is an important and interesting empire. By what nations was the art of painting practiced with great success? By the Greeks and Romans. Greece produced many distinguished painters, among whom Appellus was one of the most celebrated. He was a native of Kos, an island in the archipelago, rather north of Rhodes. He flourished in the time of Alexander the Great, and witnessed both the glory and the decay of ancient art. The leading features of his style were beauty and grace. But painting was not at any period so completely national in Greece as sculpture, its sister art. The names of 169 eminent sculptors are recorded, while only 15 painters are mentioned. Xuxus of Heraclea was another famous Greek painter who flourished 400 years before Christ. The Romans were not without considerable masters in this art, in the latter times of the Republic, and under the first emperors. What nation is supposed to have known and practiced this art even before the foundation of Rome? The Etruscans, inhabitants of Veritoria, whose acquaintance with the arts has excited great astonishment among those who have most deeply searched into their history, and traced their progress by means of the beautiful specimens of their works still extant. Their early works were not superior to those of other nations, but either from their intercourse with Greece or the original genius of the people, they had attained considerable eminence in the arts of painting, sculpture, etc., before Rome was founded. Pliny speaks of some beautiful pictures at Ardia and Lanaviam, which were older than Rome, and another author also says that before Rome was built, sculpture and painting existed among them. Where was Etruria situated? In Italy, on the west of the Tiber, which separated it from the territory of ancient Rome, to which it was afterwards annexed by conquest. Etruria was the ancient name of Tuscany. Was not the art greatly obscured for some centuries? The eruption of barbarians into Italy and Southern Europe proved fatal to painting, and almost reduced it to its primitive state. It was not until after a long period that it was fully restored. The first certain signs of its revival took place about the year 1066, when Greek artists were sent for to adorn several of the cities of Italy, Simbui, a native of Florence in the 13th century, caught the inspiration of the Greek artists and soon equalled their works. He was both a painter and an architect. To what did this revolution in its history give rise? It caused it to be distinguished into ancient and modern. The ancient painting comprehends the Greek and Roman. The modern has formed several schools, each of which has its peculiar character and merit. The masters, who revived the art, were greatly surpassed by their scholars, who carried it to the greatest state of perfection and advanced it not only by their own noble works, but also by those of their pupils. Who were the principal masters of the Italian school? Raphael and the celebrated Michelangelo Buonarrati. The former is regarded as the prince of modern painters and is often styled the Divine Raphael. He was born at Urbino in 1483. Michelangelo was born at Florence in 1564 and united the professions of painter, sculptor, architect, poet, and musician. Besides these there were many other illustrious Italian painters, the principal of whom were Leonardo da Vinci, Titian, Correggio, the three Caracci, Guido, Parmigiano, Salvatore Rosa, etc. Was not Raphael also reckoned as excellent an architect as he was a painter? He was not only esteemed the best painter in the world, but also the best architect. He was at least so admired for skill and taste in architecture that Leo X charged him with the building of St. Peter's Church at Rome. Who was Leo X? A great pope who was an ardent lover and patron of learning and the arts. He was born at Florence in 1475 and died in 1522. Give me a list of some of the most celebrated painters besides those already mentioned. The great painters of the German school were Albert Durer, Holbein, Neller, and Mengs, with several others. Of the Dutch school were Rembrandt, Gerard Dau, Mirus, Ostad, Polenberg, Burgam, and Wummermans. Of the Flemish, Rubens, Tenier, Jordyn, and Vendijk. The admired painters of the French school were Claude, Poisson, Le Brun, and others. The Spaniards have also their Marillo, Bellesquez, etc. The English, Hogarth, Wright, Reynolds, Wilson, Northcott, Gainesboro, Moreland, Barry, and others. The Americans, Washington, Alston, Benjamin West, Gilbert Stewart, John Singleton-Copley, John Trumbull, G. Stuart Newton, Thomas Cole, Henry Inman, and a number of others, besides many now living or but recently deceased. Upon what materials did the ancients paint their works? Principally upon wood, the boards or tables were prepared with a thin ground of chalk and size of some kind. Linen cloth or canvas was also employed, but there is no evidence of its use before the reign of Nero. Parchment, ivory, and plaster were the other materials. Who was Nero? One of the Roman emperors, a monster of cruelty, extravagance, and debauchery. He raised a dreadful persecution against the Christians, in which St. Paul was beheaded and St. Peter crucified. At last, being deserted by his army and the Senate, he destroyed himself after a reign of fourteen years. What is poetry? The glowing language of impassioned feeling, generally found in measured lines, and often in rhyme. Most ancient people had their poets. Name a few of the ancient poets. David was an inspired poet of the Hebrews, Homer, one of the earliest poets of the Greeks, Ossian, an ancient poet of the Scots, Telysian, an ancient poet of the Welsh, and Odin, an early poet of the Scandinavians. Who were the Scandinavians? The inhabitants of Scandinavia, the ancient name of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway. What people are regarded as the fathers of poetry? The Greeks. Homer was the first in the Prince of Poets. He celebrated the Siege of Troy in the Iliad and Odyssey, two epic poems which have never been surpassed. In the same kind of composition he was followed nine hundred years after by Virgil in the Iliad. By Tasso, after another fifteen hundred years, in the Jerusalem delivered. The Greeks also boasted of their pender and anachronian and lyrical poetry, and of Aristophanes, Euripides, Sophocles, and Echelus in dramatic poetry. Did the Romans possess any distinguished poets? Yes, among the epic poets were Ovid and Tbilis, among dramatists, Plotus and Terence, of didactic and philosophic poets Lucretius, Virgil, Horus, and Silius, Italicus. All these were so many miracles of human genius, and their works afford the models of their respective species of composition. Most of the works of the ancients have in sentiment, if not in spirit, been translated into English. Did not the same revolution which undermined the Greek and Roman empires and destroyed learning, the arts and sciences, and the taste for elegance and luxury also proved fatal to poetry? It did. The hordes of barbarians who overran Europe wiped out civilization in their progress, and literature, art, and science fled before the wild conquerors to find a refuge in the monastery in the convent. Here knowledge was fostered with the love and order which religion alone can impart. Finally, when the rude barbarians were converted, it was to the religious orders that the world turned for the establishment of schools, and it is to the church alone, in the person of her popes, her bishops, and her monks that we are indebted for the preservation of learning and its revival in the 15th century. What celebrated poets marked this revival? In Italy, Dante, Aristotle, Petrarch, and Tasso. These were followed in France by Racine, Cornille, Bolo, Voltaire, La Fontaine, and de Lille. In England, by Chaucer, Spencer, Shakespeare, Milton, Dryden, Pope, Thompson, Young, Collins, Gray, Byron, Coleridge, etc. In Scotland, by Sir Walter Scott. In Ireland, by Thomas Moore. In Germany, Kloppstock, Goethe, and Schiller. Name some of the distinguished poets of our own country. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, William Cullen Bryan, James Russell Lowell, John G. Whittier, Fitzgreen Halleck, and many others, whose meritorious works will be impartially judged by a future age. Name the different kinds of poetry. Epic, or historical, dramatic, or representative, from drama, the name of all compositions adapted to recitation on the stage, in which are displayed, for instruction and amusement, all the passions, feelings, errors, and virtues of the human race in real life, lyric poetry, or that suited to music, as songs, odes, etc., didactic, or instructive, elegiac, or sentimental, and affecting, satirical, or sensorious, epigrammatic, or witty, and ludicrous, and pastoral, or descriptive of country life. What is astronomy? The science, which treats the heavenly bodies, their arrangement, magnitudes, distances, and motions. The term astronomy is derived from two Greek words, signifying the law of the stars, astron being the Greek for star. What can you say of its origin? Its origin has been ascribed to several persons, as well as to different nations and ages. Belis, king of Assyria, Atlas, king of Martinia, and Uranus, king of the country situated on the shores of the Atlantic Ocean, are all recorded as the persons to whom the world is indebted for this noble science. Its origin is generally fixed in Chaldea. Some choose, however, to attribute it to the Hebrews, others to the Egyptians, from whom they say it passed to the Greeks. What country is meant by Mauritania? Mauritania is the name formerly given to a country in the northern part of Africa. Chaldea is the ancient name for Babylonia, now called Eric Arabi, a district of Asiatic Turkey. By whom were the heavenly bodies first divided into constellations or groups? By the ancients. The phenomena of the heavens were studied in very early ages by several nations of the east. The Chaldeans, the Indians, the Chinese, and the Egyptians have all left evidence of the industry and ingenuity with which their observations were conducted. What progress did they make in astronomy? They built observatories, invented instruments for observing and measuring with correctness, separated the stars into different groups or constellations, for the most part easily finding any particular star, gave particular names to most of the moving stars or planets, and noted the periods which each took to move through its apparent path in the heavens. And in many other ways the ancients helped to lay the foundations of that mass of astronomical knowledge which men of latter ages have brought to more maturity. Who first taught the true system of the universe? Pythagoras, one of the most distinguished philosophers of antiquity. He is thought to have been a native of Samos, an island in the archipelago. He flourished about five hundred years before Christ in the time of Tarquin, the last king of Rome. Pythagoras was the first among the Europeans who taught that the earth and planets turn round the sun, which stands immovable in the center, that the diurnal motion of the sun in fixed stars is not real but apparent, arising from the earth's motion around its own axis, etc. After the time of Pythagoras astronomy sunk into neglect. By whom was it revived? By the family of the Ptolemies, kings of Egypt, who founded a school of astronomy at Alexandria, which produced several eminent astronomers, particularly one named Hipparchus. The Saracens, on their conquest of Egypt, became possessed of the knowledge of astronomy, which they carried with them out of Africa into Spain, and thus after a long exile it was introduced afresh into Europe. Did not astronomy from this time make great progress? Yes, it made considerable advances, being cultivated by the greatest geniuses and patronized by the greatest princes. The system of the Ptolemies, called the Ptolemaic, had hitherto been used, with some slight alterations, but Copernicus, an eminent astronomer born at Thorn in Polish Prussia in 1473, adopted the system which had been taught by Pythagoras in Greece five or six hundred years before the time of Ptolemy. About the same time, with Copernicus flourished Tycho Brahe, born in Denmark, 1546. What next greatly forwarded this interesting science? The introduction of telescopes by Galileo, who by their means discovered the small stars or satellites which attend the planet Jupiter, the various appearances of Saturn, the mountains in the moon, the spots on the sun, and its revolution on its axis. What celebrated astronomer arose in England? The immortal Sir Isaac Newton, born in 1642 at Woolsthorpe in Lincolnshire, who has perhaps contributed more to the advancement of this science than anyone who had before existed. Dr. William Herschel, a native of Hanover in Germany, born in 1738, likewise made many useful discoveries in astronomy. It was he who first discovered the seventh primary planet, which he named in honor of King George III Georgium Cytus. George III took him under his special patronage and constituted him his astronomer with a handsome pension. He resided at Slough, near Windsor, where he died in 1822. What other circumstances contributed to the advancement of astronomy? The increasing perfection of our astronomical instruments, by means of which the most important and interesting discoveries with regard to the heavens have been made. It is now supposed that the myriads of the heavenly bodies are all distinct worlds. It is certain from observations made by the aid of the telescope that the moon has its mountains, valleys, and caverns. One of the greatest astronomers of our day was the eminent Father Secchi. What are generally meant by the arts? Systems of rules designed to facilitate the performance of certain actions. In this sense, it stands opposed to science. The terms art and science are often incorrectly used. Science relates to principles and art to practice. The word art is derived from a Greek word signifying utility, profit. Arts are divided into liberal and mechanical. What are the liberal arts? The liberal arts are those that are noble and ingenious, or which are worthy of being cultivated without any immediate regard to the pecuniary profit arising from them. They are poetry, music, painting, sculpture, architecture, grammar, logic, rhetoric, astronomy, and navigation. The arts, which relate more especially to the sight and hearing, are also called fine arts. What do the fine arts usually include? All those which are more or less addressed to the sentiment of taste and whose object is pleasure, these are, more especially, music, painting, sculpture, and poetry. What are the mechanical arts? Those in which the hand and body are more concerned than the mind, and which are chiefly cultivated for the sake of the profit attending them. To this class belong those which furnish us with the necessaries of life, and which are commonly called trades, as carpentry, weaving, printing, etc. There are also many other arts, as the art of writing, etc. When was the art of writing invented? It is supposed that the art was invented before the deluge. It was certainly practiced long before the time of Moses. There were doubtless many steps taken in a slow succession before the invention of alphabetic writing. Perhaps the earliest method might have been that which is still employed among the untutored tribes of North American Indians, who record events by picture painting of the rudest description. Picture painting was afterwards gradually converted into the hieroglyphical system, which is still the only kind of writing among the Chinese. It is not known who invented the alphabetic system of writing. Were not the Egyptians quite early acquainted with this art? Yes, they were acquainted with two or three kinds of writing, as well as the one in which symbolic characters were employed, which was not used for common purposes. On the contrary, such symbols had something of a sacred character about them, being unknown to the common people, and only to be deciphered by the priests. Obelisks and pyramids were the great national records, and on these the hieroglyphics were constantly used, because unintelligible to the people, until expounded by those who had the exclusive office of explaining them. Were hieroglyphics employed before or after alphabetic writing? They were undoubtedly employed at first from necessity, not from choice or refinement, and would never have been thought of if alphabetical characters had been known. This style of writing must be reckoned as a rude improvement upon picture writing, which had previously been used. Hieroglyphics were employed by the Egyptian priests in after times as a kind of sacred writing peculiar to themselves, and serving to give an air of mystery to their learning and religion, though fallen into disuse for other purposes. What materials were employed by ancient nations in writing? The Eastern nations used tables of stone, brass, and wood, so that the characters were engraved instead of being written in the usual manner. The instrument used in writing on wood was made of metal and called a style. For stone, brass, etc., a chisel was employed. When the bark and leaves of trees, skins, and other materials of a more pliant nature superseded the above-named tables, the chisel and the style, or stylus, gave way to the reed and cane, and afterwards to the quill, the hair pencil, as now used by the Chinese, and the convenient lead pencil. Have not the various nations among whom this useful art has been cultivated adopted different ways of arranging their written characters? Yes, the Hebrews, Chaudians, Syrians, Arabians, and Egyptians began each line on the right side and right towards the left. The Greeks, Latins, and all European nations right from left to right. The natives of China, Japan, Cochin China, Korea, etc., right from the top to the bottom of the page. Where are Cochin China and Korea? Cochin China is a country situated in eastern Asia. Korea is a peninsula of Asia, subject to China. What is meant by science? A clear and certain knowledge of anything founded on self-evident principles or demonstration. The term is, however, more particularly applied to a systematic arrangement of the principles relating to any branch of knowledge, and is employed in this sense in opposition to art. Thus the theoretical knowledge of chemistry is ranked as a science, but the practical part is called an art. Thus it is sometimes spoken of as a science, sometime as an art. What is chemistry? A science which enables us to discover the peculiar properties of natural bodies, either in their simple or compound state, and the elementary or first principles of which they are composed, by the process of analysis and combination. Chemistry treats of those changes in natural bodies which are not accompanied by sensible motions. Is not the knowledge of chemistry very ancient? Chemistry, as far as it regards the separating of metals from foreign matters in the ore, smelting and refining them, is of the highest antiquity. It is even supposed to have been understood and practiced in the antediluvian world. What nation appears to have excelled in chemistry in early times? The Egyptians were no mean proficient in many chemical operations, especially in the arts of working metals, softening ivory, vitrifying flints, and imitating precious stones. Chemistry, however, experienced the common fate of all the arts at the decline of the Eastern Empire. By whom was it revived? After having long laid buried, the famous Roger Bacon revived it, and from his time to the present day it has gradually progressed to a state of perfection. In former times the art of chemistry consisted only in the knowledge of working metals, etc., but in latter ages its bounds have been greatly enlarged. The knowledge of chemistry leads to many interesting and important discoveries, and the arts and manufacturers are greatly indebted to its aid. Indeed, it is requisite to be a good chemist in order to obtain perfection in many of them. By what other name has chemistry been known? It was sometimes called alchemy, by which is properly understood a refined and mysterious species of chemistry formerly much practiced. What were its objects? The discovery of the art of converting metals into gold, including the search after the philosopher's stone, by which this change was to be affected, and the discovery of a panacea or medicine for the cure of all diseases. What was the philosopher's stone? A substance, for numbers of years eagerly sought for, which was to convert metals, such as lead, copper, etc., into gold. This unknown substance was called the philosopher's stone, probably on account of the number of learned men who engaged in the search after it. Was this search successful? No, but the delusion lasted several centuries, notwithstanding the failures, losses, and disappointments of those engaged in it. Indeed, so severe and ruinous were these, in many instances, that laws were passed to forbid the study. In Germany, many of the alchemists who had the unfortunate reputation of possessing this wonderful stone were imprisoned and furnished with apparatus till they should purchase their liberty by making an ounce of gold. Was any gold ever produced by this method? Not a particle, the story of a stone having the property of converting the baser metals into gold being merely an absurd fable. Yet, although the pursuits of alchemy were the most preposterous that can be conceived, the ardor with which they were followed and the amazing number of experiments made in consequence led to the discovery of many facts to which chemistry is highly indebted. You inform me that chemistry enables us to discover the properties of bodies by means of analysis and combination. What do these terms imply? If a chemist wishes to examine the properties of a compound body, he proceeds by analysis, that is, by a separation of the substances to be examined into its constituent parts. The chemical examination of bodies is generally affected by producing a change in the nature or state of the body under examination. This change is frequently bought about by the addition of some other substance which forms a combination with a part of the substance examined and leaves the remainder in a detached state. By what means do chemists affect a change in the qualities or states of natural bodies? It is generally affected by means of heat, which has a tendency to separate the particles of bodies from each other or by the mixture or combination of some other matter with the matter intended to be examined. The mixture of two or more compounds often produces a decomposition by means of chemical affinity, a property which different species of matter have to unite with each other and which is sometimes called elective affinity. Thus it may be observed chemists have not only the power of decomposing natural bodies but of producing by combination various other substances such as are not found in the kingdom of nature. What do you mean by decomposition? In chemical language it means the separation of a compound body into its simple elements. Give me an example. Water may be discomposed and reduced into oxygen and hydrogen, both of them simple substances incapable of further decomposition. Is not the work of decomposition perpetually going forward? Yes, and combustion is one of the great agents in this work. By it animal and vegetable substances are converted into water and carbonic acid by the union of their hydrogen and carbon with the oxygen of the air. These in time are again absorbed by vegetables and again decomposed to set the oxygen at liberty to produce fresh combustions. Of what use are the two remaining substances hydrogen and carbon? These are appropriated by the vegetative organs to their growth and nourishment, while the oxygen with which the carbon was combined is abundantly given off to purify the air and render it fit for the respiration of animals. Give me an idea of the mode in which chemists ascertain the affinity of bodies by relating an experiment. Disolve a teaspoon full of sugar of lead in water and pour the clear solution into a decanter or large glass bottle. Then take a small piece of zinc and twist round it some brass or copper wire so as to let the ends of the wire depend from it in any agreeable form. Suspend the zinc and wire in the solution which has been prepared. In a short time metallic lead will deposit itself on the zinc and along the wire. This is a beautiful illustration of chemical affinity. The acid which constitutes a part of the sugar of lead has a stronger affinity for the zinc than for the lead and consequently will combine with the zinc and form a compound which remains in solution while the lead is precipitated on the zinc and wire in the form of a brilliant tree of metal. What does the word nature signify? In the above sense the system of the universe, the creation, the works of God. By the kingdom of nature is meant the world and all things in it. Nature is divided into three kingdoms, the animal, the vegetable, and mineral. What are the different states of natural bodies? All bodies are either solid, liquid, or air form. By solid bodies are meant those whose parts unite so firmly as to resist the impression or penetration of other bodies. By liquid those substances whose parts do not unite firmly but have free motion among themselves. By air form fluid substances having the form or nature of air. Liquid substances are nothing more than solids converted into liquids by heat, a certain increase of which would convert the liquids into vapor. What other name is given to liquids? They are likewise called fluids. We call the air also a fluid because it flows like a fluid and light substances will float in it. What is the cause of bodies floating on liquids? It is an established law of nature that all substances which weigh less than an equal bulk of any liquid will float on the surface of this liquid. Thus a cork will float on water while a stone sinks to the bottom. The cork will not float in the air though lighter than water, and the stone is not heavier than the hull of the water but more so than a portion of water of its own bulk, and thus it sinks in it. Stones also differ in their weight or gravity, for instance some of the asbestos kind are lighter than water. Iron, brass, indeed nearly all substances except gold and platina will float upon mercury because they are lighter than this liquid. What is the cause of bodies being either solid, liquid, or airform? When the principle of attraction prevails it causes them to become solid. When caloric prevails they become airform. Fluidity is apparently a medium between the two. How is the state of solidity in bodies accounted for? The particles of all bodies are subject to two opposite powers, repulsion and attraction, between which they remain in equilibrium. While the attractive force remains the strongest, the body remains in a state of solidity, but if heat destroys this force the particles lose their cohesion and the body ceases to be solid. Which is supposed to be the most natural state of all bodies? Solidity, for by the combination of caloric with them we can reduce most substances to the fluid state, while the greatest number of liquid substances take a solid form by the loss of caloric. Thus water congeals and forms ice, and even the gases show this decomposition to become solid when they lose their elasticity by forming some combination. Explain the terms repulsion and attraction. Repulsion is a peculiar property in the particles of matter which gives them a constant tendency to recede from each other. Attraction is an unknown force which causes bodies or their particles to approach each other. The particles of all bodies possess this property which causes them to adhere and preserves the various substances around us from falling in pieces. What different kinds of attraction can you mention? Attraction may be distinguished into that which takes place between bodies at sensible distances and that which manifests itself between particles of matter at insensible distances. Give an example of the first kind of attraction. One of the most familiar instances of attraction at sensible distances is seen in the descent of heavenly bodies to the ground. When a stone is lifted up in the hand the earth's attraction which previously caused it to remain at its surface is overcome, but as soon as the hand is withdrawn the stone falls to the earth. The force which causes this is called the attraction of gravitation or simply gravitation. How is the second kind of attraction or that between the particles of bodies subdivided? Into the attraction of aggregation or cohesion and chemical attraction or affinity the former takes place between particles which are similar and the latter between those which are dissimilar. All the operations of chemistry are founded upon the force of affinity which nature has established between the particles of different kinds of matter and which enables the chemists to produce new compounds differing more or less from the substances by whose union they were formed. Is it then necessary for chemists to understand the relative nature of all substances? Yes, because the basis of this science consists in an analytical examination of the works of nature and investigation of the properties and uses of all substances we are acquainted with and the study of the effects of heat and mixture in order that we may find out their general and subordinate laws. Relate a few more of the advantages obtained by a knowledge of chemistry. Many of the wonderful operations of nature and the changes which take place in substance around us are by its means revealed to us. In every manufacture art or walk of life the chemist possesses an advantage over his unskilled neighbor. It is necessary to the farmer and gardener as it explains the growth of plants, the use of manures and their proper application and indispensable to the physician that he may understand the animal economy and the effects which certain causes chemically produce and the nature of animal, vegetable and mineral poisons. The study is therefore an invaluable branch in the education of youth. It is useful not only in the active but the moral life by laying the foundation of an ardent and inquiring mind. Even an everyday walk in the fields can be productive of instruction by knowledge of it and let us always remember that knowledge is power. A catechism of familiar things, their history, and the events which led to their discovery by Benziger Brothers. Chapter 19 Attraction, tides, gravity, artesian wells, air, aneroid barometer, ear trumpet, stethoscope, audiophone, telephone, phonograph, microphone, megaphone, tassimeter, pathometer, anemometer, chronometer. What is attraction? By attraction is meant that property or quality and the particles of bodies which make them tend toward each other. Are there several kinds of attraction? Yes, attraction has received different names according to the circumstances under which it acts. The force which keeps the particles of matter together to form bodies or masses is called attraction of cohesion. That which makes bodies stick together only on their surfaces is called adhesion. That which inclines different masses toward each other as the earth and the heavenly bodies is called gravitation. That which forces the particles of substances of different kinds to unite is known under the name of chemical attraction. That which causes the needle of the compass to point constantly toward the poles of the earth is magnetic attraction. That which is excited by friction in certain substances is known as electrical attraction. How do you know that attraction exists through the whole universe? This great universal law was first discovered by Sir Isaac Newton. The sun and planets and other heavenly bodies are only guided in their path by gravitation. Do we experience this attraction upon our earth? Yes, because our earth is carried around the sun by it, and further the tides show it very clearly. What are the tides? The ebbing and flowing of the sea, which regularly takes place twice in 24 hours, the cause of the tides is the attraction of the sun, but chiefly of the moon, acting on the waters of the ocean. What is gravity? Gravity is the attraction between the earth and the bodies on the earth, which makes what we call weight of bodies. What do you understand by specific weight or gravity? It means the weight of a body as compared with the weight of an equal bulk of some other body taken as a standard, commonly water. Why do we say that certain metals, as for example platinum or gold, are heavier than others, say lead or iron? Because the former have a greater specific gravity. But is not a pound of gold as heavy as a pound of lead? Yes, but a lump of gold will be heavier than a lump of lead of equal bulk. Can we explain this by what we call floating? A body will float in water if its gravity is less than that of water, for example wood floats for this reason in water and a balloon in the air. Why does a portion of the floating body sink below the surface of the water? Because the body in order to float must displace a portion of water equal in weight to the whole floating body. But why do iron steamers float? Iron being heavier than water. Because the steamer is not a solid piece of iron but is hollow and so increased in bulk, for that reason the weight of the vessel and its contents is less than that of an equal bulk of water. How can you ascertain that air has weight? We can do it by the barometer and by very many experiences in daily life. If one end of a straw be dipped into a vessel of water and the other end be sucked the liquid will rise to the mouth. There we see the pressure of the outside air forces the liquid through the straw where the air was removed by sucking. Can you show the same by another instrument? Yes, the common water pump demonstrates the same as the straw. A tube is placed into the water, the air is sucked out from the tube by the movement of the pump, and the outside air presses the water through the tube. What are artesian wells? Well so named because they were first made at Artois in France. They work on the principle that every liquid seeks its level. Of the rain which falls, a part soaks into the soil of mountains, until, coming to a layer of rocks or clay through which it cannot pass, it will collect and be stored up. If a hole be bored into this reservoir the water will rise in it. Do you know some other properties of air? It is the most necessary substance for our life. It is the vehicle of all odours and smells. It is the medium of all sounds, and brings to our ear and so to our mind the immense knowledge of the outside world. It is the cause of the beauty of the blue firmament or sky, of the aurora and twilight. It is the great nurse of the whole vegetable kingdom by clouds, rain, and dew. What is an aneroid barometer? It is a barometer in the construction of which no quicksilver or other liquid is used. It consists of a metal box, exhausted of air, the top of which is of thin metal, so elastic that it readily yields to alterations in the pressure of the atmosphere. When the pressure increases the top is pressed inward, when, on the contrary, it decreases, the elasticity of the lid aided by a spring tends to move it in the opposite direction. These motions are transmitted by delicate levers to an index which moves on a scale. This barometer has the advantage of being portable. What is the ear trumpet? A trumpet-like instrument used to aid deaf persons in hearing. Its form is conical, and the larger end is of a bell shape. The smaller end is placed in the ear, and the person talks in the large end. It acts by concentrating the voice on the listener's ear. What is a stethoscope? An instrument used by physicians for ascertaining the action of the lungs, judging by the sound of their motion, whether they are healthy or not. Describe the audiphone. It is a fan-shaped instrument to help deaf people, and is made of flexible carbonized rubber. Fine silk cords attached to the upper edge bend it over, and are fastened by a wedge and a handle. The top edge of this fan rests upon the upper teeth, and the sound waves strike its surface. The vibrations are thus conveyed by the teeth and the bones of the face to the acoustic nerve in the ear. Describe the telephone. It is an instrument by which conversation may be carried on at a distance, and is composed of three parts—a thin disk of soft metal, a small coil or bobbin of silk-covered copper wire, and a small bar magnet about four inches long. The bobbin is placed on one pole of the magnet so that the wire is, as it were, steeped in the magnetic space around the pole. The metal disk is placed face-close to the pole and bobbin, so that when it vibrates in front of the pole a series of wave currents will be set up in the coil of wire on the bobbin. The hole is encased in wood, and a mouth-piece is provided for speaking against the disk. The coil of wire on the bobbin is, of course, connected by its two ends into the circuit of a telegraph line. Who invented the telephone? It was invented, almost simultaneously, by Alex Graham Bell, a native of Scotland, and a professor of vocal physiology in the Boston University, and Elisha Gray of Chicago. What is a phonograph? It is an instrument for recording the vibrations of sounds, and consists of a revolving cylinder covered with tinfoil. To this cylinder is attached a mouth-piece fitted with a thin plate or disk on the outer side of which, next to the cylinder, is a needle or point. The cylinder runs on a screw so that the whole length of it from end to end may pass under the point. On speaking into the mouth-piece, the voice causes the disk to vibrate, and the point to trace marks corresponding to these vibrations in the tinfoil. By turning the cylinder so that the point again passes into the marks in the tinfoil, the sounds that entered at the mouth-piece can be reproduced at any time. By whom was the phonograph invented? By Thomas A. Edison, who was born in Ohio in 1847. Mr. Edison is the inventor of many improvements in telegraphy, which have been adopted into general use and are to him the source of a large income. To him, also, we are indebted for the megaphone, microphone, tassameter, an improvement in the telephone, a system of electric lighting, and many other inventions. What is a microphone? This instrument is a variety of telephone by means of which faint sounds can be heard at a very great distance. It consists of a small battery for generating a weak current of electricity, a telephone for the receiving instrument, and a speaking or transmitting instrument. The last is a small rod of gas carbon with the end set loosely and blocks of the same material. The blocks are attached to an upright support, glued into a wooden baseboard. This instrument is connected with the battery and the telephone. So wonderfully sensitive is it that the ticking of a watch, the walking of a fly across a board, or the brush of a camel's hair pencil can be heard, even though it be hundreds of miles distant. Will you describe the megaphone? It is a substitute for the ear and speaking trumpet. It consists of three paper funnels placed side by side. The two larger ones are about six feet eight inches long and twenty-seven and a half inches in diameter, and are each provided with a flexible tube, the ends of which are held to the ear. The centre funnel, which is used as a speaking trumpet, does not differ materially from an ordinary trumpet, except that it is larger and has a larger bell mouth. Two persons, each provided with a megaphone, can, without other apparatus, carry on a conversation at a distance of one and a half or two miles. What is the tassimeter? It is an instrument sensitive to the smallest degree of heat and is mostly used in astronomy. Attached to a telescope it will show the heat coming from the stars. What is a bathometer? This ingenious instrument, the invention of Professor Siemens in London, enables those on board of ships to read from an index the depths of the ocean beneath them. It consists of a highly sensitive steel spring to which a heavy piece of metal is attached. The changes in weight to which the latter is subject in consequence of the variations of attractive force, the deeper the ocean the smaller the latter and vice versa, are registered on a scale by the indicator that is in connection with the steel spring. What is an anemometer? An instrument for measuring the velocity and force of the wind, and by which storms at a distance can be predicted. What is a chronometer? A timepiece of delicate and exact construction, chiefly employed by astronomers and navigators. It differs only from an ordinary watch in its delicate springs, in not being so much influenced by heat and cold, and consequently in its accuracy in giving the time. Chapter 20 of A Catechism of Familiar Things This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org. This reading by Kara Schellenberg. A Catechism of Familiar Things, their history and the events which led to their discovery by the Benziger Brothers. Chapter 20. Light, Limelight, Magnesium Light, Electric Light, Rainbow, Prism, Spectrum, Colors, Photography, Camera Obscura, Stereoscope, Kaleidoscope. Do you know something about the nature of light? Light is a mere form of vibration, like sound. And like sound it requires some source to set this vibration going, and some medium to carry this vibration as air carries sound. Is not the air this medium? No. It is supposed that there is an elastic fluid called ether, which pervades all space and matter. And if the molecules of a body are in motion, they have the power of setting this ether in motion. The movement thus produced will appear either as heat or light, according to its velocity. What sources of light do you know? We are told that the principal source of light on earth is the sun, either directly with its own beams, or indirectly by supplying us with combustibles to produce light. For oil, gas, candles, and most of the substances used for producing light and heat when burning, are but sending forth in another form the rays of the sun which were stored up in nature's economy. Another source of light is the result of chemical action, such as the lime, magnesium, and electric light. A third source of light is phosphorescence, as we see it in the glow worm and fireflies. What is the drummond or lime light? It is one of the most brilliant of artificial lights, when a stream of oxygen and one of hydrogen under pressure are brought together and mixed within a few inches of the end of a blowpipe, the mixture on lighting burns with a colourless flame possessing intense heat.  Incandescence, the glowing whiteness of a body caused by intense heat. What is a blowpipe? A tube, usually bent near the end, terminated with a finely pointed nozzle for blowing through the flame of a lamp or gas jet, producing thereby a small conical flame possessing intense heat. It is used in soldering silver, brass, etc. A mixture of oxygen and hydrogen, when ignited, constitutes the hydrogen blowpipe, invented by Dr. Hare of Philadelphia. What is magnesium light? When the metal magnesium is rolled out into a fine ribbon and heated to red heat it burns with a dazzling light. Which is the most powerful artificial light? The so-called electric light. This light, whether produced by a series of galvanic cells or by dynamic power, is the most brilliant and useful. What is a rainbow? The rainbow is that beautiful semicircular band or arc of different colors in the clouds during the occurrence of rain and sunshine. When the clouds opposite the sun are very dark and rain is falling from them, the rays of the sun are divided by the raindrops as they would be by a prism. There are often two rainbows at the same time because the primary bow is again reflected to another layer of clouds. What is a prism? A triangular solid piece of glass, on which if a ray of light can be cast it will be distinctly divided into the seven colors we see in a rainbow. By this fact we see that white light is composed of different rays which have different reflective susceptibilities. What is a spectrum? It is this beautiful band of seven colors obtained by the refraction of a ray of light through the prism. Whence come the colors in the objects we see in nature? They all come from light. Every object has a power to absorb certain rays and to reflect others. A red cloth, for example, absorbs all the other colored rays except red, and this it gives off, thus appearing red. Why are the leaves of plants green? Because a peculiar chemical substance called chlorophyll formed within their cells absorbs all other rays of light, reflecting only blue and yellow, which mixture produces the different green tints. What is photography? The word means light drawing. It is a mode of fixing on certain substances, the lights and shades of any object by means of a lens inserted in a camera obscura. This process was first called daguerre type from the name of the inventor daguerre. A plate of copper thinly coated with silver is exposed to the vapor of iodine, then placed in a camera obscura where an image of the object to be presented through a lens is cast upon it. Ambrotype is the same application to glass. There are now different variations of method in the use of the same agents. Now photography consists in taking the images on what is called a negative, that is, a glass coated with a silvered collodion, gun cotton dissolved in alcohol and ether, film. From this plate another image is taken on silvered paper, which we call the positive image. There are also other chemicals used instead of silver. What is a camera obscura? A small box or dark room into which the light is admitted through a lens. What is a stereoscope? It is an instrument exhibiting the effects and advantages of seeing with two eyes. The instrument is so constructed that from a flat picture we may see the solid body in its reality in nature. What is a kaleidoscope? An instrument invented by Sir David Brewster, consisting of a tube with slips of reflecting glass so arranged in the interior that small beads, bits of colored glass, and similar things are, by revolving the tube, thrown into an endless variety of beautiful shapes. End of Chapter 20, read by Kara Schellenberg, on January 12th, 2008, in San Diego, California. Chapter 21 Electricity, electric currents, electric battery, electrotyping, stereotyping, telegraph, ocean cable, lightning rod, the gulf stream, the Mount Sinus tunnel, the Suez Canal, suspension bridges, eminent Americans. What is the nature of electricity? A form of energy into which all other forms can be readily converted. What is electric current? Electricity manifests itself in a variety of ways, but all may be arranged under two heads, viz. one as a charge, two as a current. By means of friction many bodies become electrified, that is, have acquired an electrical charge. If this charge is in great quantity we call it high tension. When a body containing an electrical charge is brought in contact with other bodies, through which electricity is capable of passing, there ensues a current of electricity. Such bodies are called conductors. What are the sources of currents? There are currents produced by chemical action called voltage currents, by the action of heat or thermoelectric currents, by the motion of magnets or magnetoelectric currents. What is positive and what negative electricity? No difference in electricity itself. When a body has more than its natural amount of electricity it is said to be charged positively. When it has less than its natural amount it is negatively charged. What is a cell? What is a battery? If a piece of zinc and copper joined by a wire were to be dipped in a liquid generally weak sulfuric acid which will act chemically on the metals a current is produced. Such an arrangement is called a couple or cell. If many cells are connected then it is a battery. What is thermoelectricity? If two bars of any unlike metal, for example antimony and bismuth, be soldered together at one end and the other ends be connected by a wire and then the soldered and heated a current will flow. What effects are produced by currents? They produce heat, light, decomposition and combination in liquid, compound chemicals, they melt all metals, excite magnetism and in the animal body excite movements of the muscles. Can you specify these effects? A strong battery produces heat in such a degree that all metals can be melted. Light is produced in flashes or if the end of the leading wires are connected with two pencils of hard carbon and brought very near together then a brilliant light or arc called the voltaic arc is produced. This is the dazzling bright light which we call electric light. The chemical effect of a current in decomposing compound substances is called electrolysis. In this way water can be decomposed into its compounds hydrogen and oxygen, copper sulfate into sulfur and metallic copper etc. In this way we can deposit strong adherent films of metal on the surface of any conductor for if the article to be coated be attached to the negative electrode of a battery and dipped into a solution of the metal with which we desire to coat the article say copper or silver and the positive electrode be attached to a plate of copper and also dipped into a liquid. When the current passes the metal will be decomposed and deposited in a uniform layer over the article at the negative electrode. This process is called electroplating. What is electro typing? It is the process of copying metals type woodcuts engraved copper and steel plates by means of electrical disposition. It is chiefly used for making from the ordinary movable types plates of fixed metallic types for printing books. Describe the process. The article to be copied is first covered with black lead and then a mold is made of it in wax or Gouda Persha. This mold is placed in a solution of sulfate and copper and attached to the negative pole of the battery while a plate of copper is hung from the positive pole. The electric current decomposes the copper which is deposited in a thin film upon the mold. This film is removed and stiffened by being backed with metal. What is the difference between electro typing and stereotyping? In stereotyping a plaster of Paris mold is taken from the types and upon this mold melted type metal is poured which when hardened makes a solid plate. Is there any other method of stereotyping? Yes that known as the paper process. A uniform sheet of soft matter is formed by pasting together sheets of thin tough tissue paper. The types are oiled and the soft moist sheet is placed on them and beaten down with a stiff brush until it receives an impression of the type form. Both are then run through a press and on being taken out the paper is found to form a perfect mold. Into this mold the type metal is poured and the plate formed. Can you tell me some magnetic effects of the current? All conductors become magnetic during the passage of a current through them and thereby acquire all the properties of a magnet. There are bodies which are natural magnets and they are called permanent magnets. Those which become magnets only during the passage of a current are called electromagnets. Do you know any application of these magnets? They are employed in great variety of electrical apparatus principally in telegraphy. When was the first telegraph established? It was made in 1836 being invented by Professor Steinheil of Munich and adopted by the government of Bavaria. It was 12 miles long and the signals were made by small bells. Who was the inventor of the telegraph in this country? Samuel F. B. Morse who was born at Charlestown, Massachusetts April 27th 1791. He began life as a painter but did not give his whole attention to art chemistry and experiments and electricity and galvanism claiming much of his time. He first conceived the idea of the telegraph in 1832 and exhibited his invention to Congress in 1837. He struggled on with scanty means and was about to give up in despair when Congress appropriated $30,000 for an experimental line which was opened on May 12th 1844 between Washington and Baltimore. Professor Morse died in 1872 but not before he had reaped honors and fortune from his invention. How rapidly does the electric current travel through the wires? From experiments made it appears to be about 15,400 miles in a second. Can more than one message be sent at the same time on the same wire? Yes it is possible now to send several messages at the same time. What is a cable? It is a telegraph wire underwater. Professor Morse in 1842 laid a wire insulated by a covering of hemp coated with pitch tar and India rubber between Governor's Island and the battery, New York. Several attempts were made in other countries. What was the greatest telegraphic undertaking? That of connecting Europe with America by a submarine cable spanning the ocean, which was commenced in 1857 and completed it August 5th 1858. To whom do we owe this grand undertaking? This honor is entirely due to Mr. Cyrus W. Field. Mr. Field was born at Stockbridge, Massachusetts on November 30th, 1819. In 1853 he became interested in ocean telegraphy and after many reverses succeeded in laying the first cable in August 1858. The message sent by Queen Victoria to the President of the United States consisting of 99 words occupied 67 minutes in transmitting. In September of the same year this cable ceased to work but the energy of Field restored confidence and another cable was made and laid down in July 1865 but after twelve hundred miles were deposited it was lost. In 1866 another was made and successfully laid in July. In August the lost cable was found and spliced and carried to the western shore. What is a dynamo-electric machine? A machine by which very powerful currents can be obtained directly from mechanical power. In these by means of a steam engine or other power a number of coils of wire called the armature are set into rapid evolution between the poles of powerful electromagnets. All currents are caused to flow from the armature in one direction by means of a contrivance called the communicator. Very successful machines of this sort are the gram machines, the seamens and particularly the so-called brush machine. By these the electric light is now generally produced. What is a lightning rod? It is a rod of iron placed against a building to protect it from lightning. Three or four feet of one end is in the moist ground or in water while several feet of the other end extend above the highest part of the building. The upper end of the rod is pointed with copper or some other metal which will not easily corrode. By whom was it invented? By Benjamin Franklin and first announced by him in his poor Richard's Almanac for 1753. Franklin was born at Boston, Massachusetts in 1706. By his talents, prudence and honesty he rose from humble beginnings to be one of the foremost men of his time. He was one of the committee of five chosen by Congress to prepare the Declaration of Independence which he with other patriots afterwards signed. Towards the close of the year 1776 he was sent as ambassador to the French court and remained in Europe some time. He returned home in 1785 and died at Philadelphia on the 17th of April 1790. What is the Gulf Stream? It is a warm current in the Atlantic Ocean. What is its origin? It may be considered as beginning on the west coast of Africa within the region of the trade winds. These cause a westward flow known as the equatorial current. On reaching the coast of Brazil the greater portion of this current bends northward carrying with it the waters of the Amazon and Orinoco and passes through the Caribbean Sea into the Gulf of Mexico. Here it is further heated and rushes out through the only outlet the Straits of Florida. Describe its course. Deep and narrow it runs by Florida with a velocity varying from two to five miles an hour and pressed by the cold current between it and the shore flows parallel to the coast as far as Cape Hatteras. Meeting shoals near this point the banks of sand extending as far as Newfoundland it there turns abruptly to the east and with a diminished speed and increased width rolls onward towards the coast of Europe. Before long it divides into two great branches the northern and the southern. The former extends as far as the Spitzbergen the latter sweeping along by the Madeira and Canary Islands returns to the equator completing the circuit. What influence has the Gulf Stream on the climate of Europe? Various opinions have been expressed as to this. It has been estimated that the amount of heat arising from the stream on a winter's day is sufficient to raise the atmosphere over the British Isles from the freezing point to a summer temperature. How may the Gulf Stream be distinguished? It can be distinctly traced in the ocean by its dark indigo color its temperature and the swiftness of its waters. Which is the largest tunnel in the world? The Mount Sinus Tunnel or the tunnel of Col de Frejos by both of which names it is known. It is the longest subterranean route for commerce and travel yet constructed being seven and one quarter miles in length. It is on the crest of the Cossian Alps about sixteen miles southwest of the summit of Mount Sinus Pass. It was begun in 1857 and finished in 1871. Col a Defile What other great engineering work can you mention? The Suez Canal a ship canal running across the isthmus of Suez and connecting the Mediterranean with the Red Sea. The canal is 100 miles in length and through it an uninterrupted communication is established whereby large sailing vessels and steamers may pass from sea to sea and thus avoid the long and dangerous voyage around the Cape of Good Hope. To whom is the world indebted for this canal? This great work owes its inception and completion to the enterprise and indomitable energy of Ferdinand de Lesseps who was born at Versailles, France on the 19th November 1805. In January 1856 he obtained a charter from the Egyptian government for a company to construct the canal and work began in 1859. Though beset by many difficulties the persistent energy of de Lesseps fought its way to success and in 1869 he had the satisfaction of seeing the waters of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea mingle in the Bitter Lakes. He has since been engaged in many engineering projects the latest being a canal across the isthmus of Panama to connect the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Inception beginning indomitable not to be subdued persistent inclined to hold firm. What is the suspension bridge? A bridge supported by wires ropes or chains which usually pass over huge piers or columns at each end and are secured in the ground below. Name some of the largest bridges of this kind. That at Niagara those over the Allegheny at Pittsburgh and the Ohio at Cincinnati and the Great East River Bridge which connects New York and Brooklyn. Who planned these bridges? John A. Robling who was born at Millhausen Prussia June 12th 1806. In 1831 he emigrated to this country and to his genius we are indebted for the bridges above named. The reports plans and specifications of the East River Bridge were completed and the work begun when Robling was severely injured in the foot while directing his work. Lockjaw succeeded amputation he died at Brooklyn July 22nd 1869. To what great civil engineer has the West given birth? James B. Eads born at Lawrenceburg Indiana May 28th 1820 he began life as a clerk on the Mississippi River steamboat. In 1842 he entered a firm engaged in recovering sunken property and with such success that he retired with a fortune in 1857. During the civil war he devised a plan for the defense of the western waters and constructed several iron gun boats with many novel features of his own invention. He has since acquired reputation as projecting and constructing engineer of the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge and by building jetties at the south pass of the Mississippi by which the depth of the river is increased and it is made more navigable. These jetties are projecting dikes of brush, facines, and stones. Facines bundles of rods or of small sticks of wood bound at both ends and at intermediate points used in filling ditches, etc. Give the names of some distinguished American inventors. Eli Whitney the inventor of the cotton gin born in Westboro, Massachusetts 1765 died 1825. Jethro Wood the inventor of the modern cast iron plow born at White Creek, New York 1774 died 1834. Cyrus H. McCormick inventor of the mowing machine born at Walnut Grove, Virginia in 1809. Who was the inventor of the sewing machine? Elias Howe he was born at Spencer, Massachusetts July 9, 1819 when a boy he worked in a cotton mill at Lowell but afterwards entered a machine shop in Boston. Here he conceived the idea of the sewing machine and after long days of labor part of which time he and his family lived on the kindness of a friend he completed his invention. After many struggles his talent industry and perseverance were rewarded and long before his death which occurred in October 1867 he had acquired a large fortune. End of Chapter 21 End of A Catechism of Familiar Things