The anti-monopolist. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn.) 1874-1878, 1877-12-27


the highest point of mental and physi-
cal culture; and with such success
has this been attended that it is quite
possible to conceive of an ideal man,
product of present attainable condi-
tions, who in all his attributes, GER
tainly physical and probably mental,
would be far superior being to
modern men. There are many
instances which can be cited showing
that occurrences seemingly Of the
most fortuitous character are subject
to definite fixed laws. The number
of suicides, of murders, of marriages,
of letters posted unstamped, and so
on through almost every Imaginable
event in large community. Is nearly
invariable; the great business OF life
insurance rests upon the law of
probabilities, and finds it's stability i'll
the hypothesis that out of a given
number of policy holders the ratio Of
deaths may be definitely forecast. The
entire onward march of scientific
investigation is toward the formula
ton of these laws. The highest
effort of original investigation is the
grand general deductionA the establish
ment of theory on the basis of a
multitude of observed facts.
It may not therefore be unreasona-
BILE to suppose that, some day, laws
governing invention will be revealed,
No great or striking invention, not
even one moderately out of the COM
mon run, appears, but that others
similar to it at once come to light.nOt
as improvements on the first an
nounced but as the outcome Of
independent thought. Take the
telephones as an instance. Bells
| telephone is not an improvement on
Gray's, nor is Edison's on that of
either of the other inventors, yet all
| were produced, as is well known,
within few months of each other.
Note the number of entirely original
inventions which followed rapidly
upon each other within a very few
years and which together resulted i'll
the sewing machine as now perfected
| There are abundant records where III
purely scientific Investigations indie
| pendent students find themselves
pursuing exactly similar objects
The case of the magnificent discovery
of Neptune by both Leverrier and
Adams is most striking example of
an instance where two Investigators
each reached his aim in Il manner
original with each yet common to
both.
The recently invented phonograph
is proving no exception to the general
rule. A preliminary notice in these
columns of the Marcy and Rosapelly
photograph lately devised in France
elected the announcements OF MI.
Edison's remarkable inveL ton. Two
| inventors have written lis SINCE the
publication Of the latter device to the
effect that they also have invented
monographs of substantially similar
construction, which antedate( they say)
Mr.. Edison device by onsid cradle
period. 1t will be interesting to
watch the progress OF the monograph
if only to note how many other inven-
tors have beee simultaneously engaged
in its investigation or have indepen-
IDENTIFY discovered it in various forms.
Statistics based on data of this kind
and kept overa reasonable period
would probably lead to some remarka-
BILE conclusions relative to the con-
ditions of invention, and possibly, as
we have intimated, to the discernment
of some general laws.--Scisntift
| American.