Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1872-02-15
Accurate Workmanship.

oNNNAS ShGAA S0SNbAIAS1 HI rs
it will be forever beyond our reach
On the other hand it has often been as
serted that the works of Nature are
perfect, that they are far superior in
every respect TO human handiwork,
and upon this assumption many a
moral homily has been based.
That this proposition has been so
generally accepted. affords n forcible
instance Ofthe readiness of mankind 20
accept as truth whatever is pr esented
to them as a generalization. Formu-
late an idea and lay it down as pro-
position, and nine out of ten will ac-
cept it as true, because five ofthe nine
| will lack. the power to detect its falsi-
| ty, and the remaining four will have
too much indisposition to the mental
labor involved in logical reasoning,
to test whether the proposition be cor
rect or otherwise. About four tenths
of the human race are mentally lazy,
| FIVE tenths are so =credulous as to &C
cept anything as principle which is
clothed in the garb off generalization,
and certainly not more than one tenth
| think for themselves.
| Only in one sense are the works of
nature more perfect than the works of
a man. In their adaptation of compli-
Gated means to end, they are for the
most part unquestionably above any
human production. Yet even on this
point there is much illogical inference.
We once heard a professor of Anate-
my, in lecturing on the hand, speak Of
its complicated structure and its mar
velous machinery, as one of the great
est evidences of a beneficent design
/ prevailing creation. Five minutes later
lie spoke Of the carpal bones and their
investing ligalnents as being peculiarly
liable, on account of their structure,
to obstinate and keep seated infama-
ton when injured but he diu not adj
duce this as an evidence of a benef-
cient design. Yet surely there is as
much reason to believe that all the eff
fects Of peculiar construction are de-
signed as that one of them is.
But turning our attention to the me
chapics Of nature, we ind that, so far
as perfection in form is concerned,
human work may stand well in com
parison. It has been said that the
types of all the forms employed in the
arts are found in Nature but if we ad
nit this, we shall find on examination
that these types are in the majority of
instances extremely imperfect. Now
here in Nature is found a perfect
sphere, perfect cube, a perfect square
or prism. We look in vain for perfect
cylinders, for absolutely straight stems
of trees, for filaments perfectly uni
form in size through out. No individ-
ual of any species exactly resembles
any other, and even the elemen tary
parts of animal and vegetable struc-
lures differ from each other. The
,, anatomist might dissect a thousand
subjects without finding two femora
bones that would not differ in some
way and even in the same body the
corresponding paris on opposite sides
are often found to be somewhat differ
ent So much for the uniformity anC
mechanical accuracy Unnatural things
If mans mechanical produ ctiops are
not perfect, they excel in the particu
lars named.
There are many practical difTicultie:
in securing accuracy in construction
but we shall find that they may bt
placed in two categories. The frs
category includes our own imperfec
, tions. These are natures imperfec
tions. Our vision is so limited that
in very fine word, we must supplement
it by the magnifying glass and the mi
S crOscope. The command Of mind owe
; muscle is so far from absolute that
even when the former has been trained
e to command and the latter to obey
> through long years ofpractice, the con
a troll of the one and the obedience o
e the other are still defective. Eye anC
/, ear and touch. all tell US falschood
D and never more than approximate t.
II truth.
The second category is found in tn
e lack OF rigidity in the materials whicl
: " e use. Even the diamond, the hard
: est substance known to man, is elasti
i and changes its size with every varia
y ton and temperature. Nothing W
can touch is precisely alike under an
o two different sets of circumstances
Some things change by absorbing o
losing moisture. Others when one
:. changed never resume their origins
form. So mobile is matter, that to
drawn by baby hand over a ston
; floor will generate vibrations the wave
} Of which flow along through the graz
ite, through the legs of the most soil
, workbench, and set the particles of til
Il i material in hand dancing to an entire
- ly new step. All matter thrOughoI
le the universe, though some of it ma
= seem to the superficial eye to be
~ rest, is in constant agitation Will
~ the large masses are whirling throug
u space with inconceivable velocity, I'll
smaller molecules-are eac
~ =, moving through what may be-for a
, we know-even wider orbits in PR
~ ~ portion to their size, than those of tt
= sun, moon and stars. The slighte
external change is followed by
~ change in their movements. A m;
ne goes on board an ocean steamer wi
GA GA single nail in his pocket, and instan
- ly the compass needle in The binnac
q ,'t feels the fact, and varies somewhat
=, ny its indications. Change, change,
written upon each and every atom
the universe. Nothing shall be co
slant, nothing shall be uniform. T.
combined intelligence of manEiI
eu cannot command force strong enou&
IN to chain one infnitesimal atom. En-,
qh less vaIiety-nothing stable-this is
III fiat from which we vainly strive to G
ra- cape. and to which we cannot find o.
=, solitary eXception.-S Scientific Ame,
az can.
a A few days since sixteen Gt
'as man saloon keepers of this city N
he and formed an association for mutu
INT nrotection. Thev aUreed TO sell not
l.