The Portsmouth inquirer. [volume] (Portsmouth, O. [Ohio]) 1849-1855, 1851-02-10
MISCELLANEOUS.
1hE MOTORS !:
Chief Levers Of Civilization.

I tive condition 6l the world, VIZ: lhal 0l tRS
Motors. 1t is deemed not improper 10 Ill
late briefly On these chief levers Ul civlliLa-
ton, win the view OF bringing them more
INN .diately to motto. OF inventors, and
| OF invoking the attention OF Congress to a
series OF proposed prizes for new PRIME mo-
vers and other discoveries in science and art.
A hint to the ing tnious is word to the wise
Ito name desiderata has often led to their
realization.
I. Physical forces are everything on our orb,
as they must b. on every other. II is motion
that imparts vigor and beauty, animation
and colors, to nature; and motions are mere
Ily manifestations OF forces. Deprived OF
these, the earth, instead of her diversified
harmonies, would present lifeless and cha
otic mass. There could be no transition or
change; breath could not blow, nor tree
grow, nor animals or atoms move. They
are the conservative agencies Of Creation, and
the basis of even Intellectual and moral de-
velopments. '
OF their nature little is known, save that,
like most natural phenomena, they are inf-
nitely diversified in their manifestations
Not amenable to any faculty of the senses,
they are known to us only by their results
Apparently strangers too, yet they dwell in
and are energetically at work in the most ST.
lent and quiescent Of bodies--ceaselessly de-
composing and recomposing them--as well
as tue restless and the living, They whirl
planets round their orbits, and children's tops
On our floors-are disclosed in the move
ment of an eyelid, the buzzing Of an insects
wing, the Struggles of an elephant or a
whale--in the sprouting OF plant, and the
upheaval of continent, in the impercepti-
Bile ascent of vapor, as in descending torrents,
in combinations of acidulous and alkaline
solutions, in the poles of a magnet, explosive
mixtures, volcanoes, thunder, lightning,
snow, hail, and wherever achange OF tenn
perature takes place.
The primal elements Of civilization, it
was necessary that chemical and mechanical
forces should be found in abundance, SO as 20
keep up, pari pussu, with mans progress
And such is the fact; the earth Is store
house of them, in which they are furnished
as il were, in packages CT all sizes, qualities
and intensities, SO as 10 meet all possible ex-
igencies. And it will appear that as he
calls :hem into his service, they become the
proofs and the measure of his advancement;
for in proportion as he employs them, intel
lectual and moral attributes accumulate
upon him.
Inventions for modifying and conveying
motion from one mdcn,ns 10 another, or 1ol
distributing it TO various parts OF the sans
machine, frequently evince striking ingenu'
jity: but the disclosure of useful forces lndl-
Gates a higher order of research, and is fraught
with vastly more important results. I'm
provements in mechanism are to certain ex
tent limited and local, but the advent OF q
new motive agent would be felt Throughout
the circl. of The sciences-as exempiiiied II
the case Of steam. 1t would open new
channels of industry and wealth, and give.
rise to devices and applications novel ant
innumerable.
Man rises with the motors, His grovtl
begins with them, and only as he extends
their applications or adds 10 their number
can he increase in real stature. Nothing cal
compensate for their absence, for nothingval
,, liable can he acquire but through them. Step
= OF ladder resting upon earth and reachin
to heaven, he is without them an eirth-worm
with them almost God. His destinies ar
and ever must be wound up in them.
The chronology of human condition
u comprehended in the cycles OF the motors
4 and in them will that condition be best stud
led and understood. We are not to suppos
that the annals Of nations are for ever to b
meted out in petty dynasties, or thos3 OF tb
species by mere circles of years; on the con
Id trary, the probability increases that eras vii
be determined by revolutions in science, an
:, :, the condition of generations measured b
II their chief motive-agents.
or MONACO OF THE MOTORS.
~ Take up mans biography where we viii
'n the first page opens with him roaming tt
se se forest-an untutored animal, preying upo
y a' inferior tribes as they prey upon one anothe
7, He knows no force but his own, dreams not
employment any, and hence is his own Sc
= want in everything. By-and-by, as gan
becomes shy and and scarce, he ekes out Il
means of living by cultivating patch
mandioca or maize-using stake 1or
plough. and she'll fora sickle. In this col
dition properties of some OF the elemental
machines unfold themselves. as those Of Il
wedge, inclined plane and lever. In his cit
he realizes those of the hammer, which HI
claims to place among them. Still he T
ce mains a wild man-a savage. Such IS u
nd homage of the motors, and such mans inv
ly riable condition where they are not.
'ss While there is a wide disparity betwet
mans muscular power and the requirement
of civilization, there is an observable pr
= portion between it and his wants as an u
reclaimed animal. The required outlay
procure the first necessaries, is neither t
much nor too little. In the savage and sem
savage condition he has strength to build
hut, hunt, dig, plant. and reap, sufficle
\ cy for himself and family; but had these e
sential tasks required double the labor tn
OF they do, the race would have sunk under
N. ere the art of calling in foreign aid had be'
ne acquired. On the other hand, II food, CT
IT. thing, and fuel had been attainable with ha
Of the exertion, Incidence and every evil pas
gs ion would have prevailed; hence the wisdo
~ of Providence in forbidding the earth TO we
~ the means of existence except in return I
such an expenditure Of labor as would ira
he him in the first stages of his career TO no
III its of industry, anil prepare him for discip
'Iy ming higher faculties by another species
or activity.
be II Is true the amount Of indispensable t
differs in different parts OF the earth. In I
touid zone the soil is prolific, fruits are p'
ennial and in rich abundance, little is rep
red for shelter and less for clothing, on equ'
ling principle IL, however, everywhere q
" n,rent. THE mel. are less able TO work