Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1833-07-11
ADVANTAGES OF SCIENTIFIC
KNOWLEDGE TO PRACTICAL

MEN.
The following extract is from one OF
the very interesting discourses on the i'd
vaniages of Scientific knowledge TO
I practical men, published in the first vol
ume Of the American Library Of Useful
knowledge.
|, ! al.ude to the card machine of Whit
| temore, and The nail machine ofPerkins.
Of the former it would not become me to
speak in terms of confident praise, from
my own want ofthe proper knowledge of
machinery. But ! must confess, that
when ] first saw it, it seemed to me tol
be almost an intelligent being, and to do
every thing but speak and whether con-
sldered with reference to the simplicity
OF its means, the accuracy and variety Of
It's operations, or its almost universal ca
! paclty Tor common use, it deserved the
highest commendation Other nvcn-
tons have since somewhat narrowed the
| sphere of its operations, and made its
celebrity less felt. But may quote the
remark of one Of our most ingenious
countrymen, who, TO a question put to
HIM, what, after two months eXamina-
ton of the patent Office at Washington,
and his own surveys elsewhere, appear
! cd to him the most interesting of Amcri-
can inventions, unhesitatinsly answered,
Whittemore's card machine. The re-
mark was made by Perk ns; and perhaps
no person, but himself, would have
thought, that his own nail machine, which
with IFS togglejoint consumes bars Of iron,
aud returns them in nails, with the tran
quill grandeur Of a giant, conscious of su-
perior power, might not have borne the
most strenuous rivalry.
And this leads me TO remark, in the
next place, as matter of pride, as well
as of encouragement, that to mechanics
themselves we are indebted for some OF
(, the most useful and profitable inventio
of our age. l have already sdverted to
the perfection of the steam engine by
Watt The cotton machine of Ark
y wright constitutes an era in inventions
= and has already thrown back upon A sia
all her various fabrics, and compelled he,
1 to yield up to European skill the cheap
est labor of her cheapest population. The
inventions of Wedgewood have lee to al
most as stricking rivalry of the pottery
0 and wares of the East. The cotton gin,
e which has given to the cotton growing
States of the south their present great
staple, is the production Of the genius OF
c Whitney. In the year 1894, the Caro-
: linas and Georgia were scarcely known,
e to our ablest diplomatiats, as cultiyators
h Of the plant, so obscure and unimportan
= were its results. The vention Of Whit
e ney at once gave it the highest value
';s and laid the broad foundation of thei
" present wealth and prosperity. AT thi
~ very moment, New-England annual
10 70 consumes, in her manufactures, NOR
" than one fifth part of the eight hundre
and fifty thousand bales Of cotton, th
annual produce of their soil, which bl
v for him would have had no existence -
Ii What wonders were accomplished by tn
At sell-tauglt architect, Brndlcy, himself
D humble mill-right; and yet Of such vas
compass Of thought, that to him river
seemed of no use, but to feed navi gabl
canals, and the ocean itself but a larg
y reservoir for water works. What effect
- is our own Perkins producing by one on
in ly of his numerous Inventions, the art G
ct soitening steel, so as to admit Of engray
E. ing, and then hardening it again, so as tc
= retain the fine point and polish of copper
l. plate, without the constant wear Of the
a latter, and its consequent tendency te
depreciation? He has enabled us, as !
were, to stereotype and multiply to an al
most incalculable extent, the most beau.
tiful specimens Of the art, and cheaper
them, so to bring them within the reacl
: of the most moderate fortunes. Man,
d other llustrious instances of genius, sue
o . cessfully applied TO the improvement o
: the arts, might be selected from the worl
in shops and common trades of life. Bu
in most of these instances It will be found
that the discovery was not the mere re
,f, suit of accident, but arose from the pa
tient study Of principles, or from hint
|, gathered from a scientific observation O
e, nice and curious facts. And il may b
10 added, that in all Of these instances, j
er proportion as the inventors acquired
u !, knowledge Of tho principles Of the arts
their genius assumed wider play, an
accomplished its designs with more 10
m miiar power and certainty. Ii is sdb
ject of most profound interest, to oSserv'
to what grand results common primer
: pie in mechanics, or an apparently ihsu
lated fact, may conduct us, under u" 'n'
,f guidance Of man Of fgenius. Inc 'uio
for instance, in geometry, that 'he CIR
conferences of circles are IN ProPo'.io'
TO their diamcters, les at the founoa"o'
Of most of the operations OF prac'ica' mo
chanics, and has led to the means OF IN IN
crcasing mechanical power 10 an "a, amos nos