The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1879-10-30
SCIENCE AND INVENTION
Boston Commercial Bulletin.

steamships and all the numerous
uses to which that instrument is
now applied would have been com
paratively unknown. The discov
cries of nitric acid, hydro-chloriC
acid, oil of vitriol and washing
soda by the alchemists led to the
erection of the numerous great
manufactures of those substances
which now exist in all civilized
countries. The discovery of zinc
has led TO an improvement in teleg
raphv. The discovery of nickel has
led to the great modern use Of Ger
man silver in the construction ot
electro-plated and other articles
The discovery of chlorine formed
the basis of nearly all our modern
processes of bleaching cottons anG
other fabrics. The discovery oi
oxygen has enabled us to under.
stand and improve in a great mum.
Der of ways the numerous manu-
featuring, agricultural and other
processes in which that substance
operates.
| There is probably not an art, pro
cess, or manufacture which is not
largely due to scientific discovery
and if we trace them back to their
source, we nearly always find them
to have originated in scientific re
search. The great pecuniary bene-
fits arising from the application OF
science are generally reaped in the
first instance by all great manufac-
turers, agriculturalists. merchants
i and capitalists. Countless fortunes
have been made by means of pro
cesses and manufactures based upon
scientific discovery. In a general
way, however, the greatest pecu-
mary benefits arising from science
sooner or later go to enrich the
possessors of land.
Discovery is usually the basis of
invention. Science has shown that
it is by means of inventions based
upon new discoveries that the
greatest utilities are obtained, rath-
er than by the exercise of invention
upon knowledge acquired long ago.
A man can not invent an improve
ment unless he possesses scientific
knowledge. The discovery of a
single substance, such as oil of Wit
riol, washing soda, has led to the
formation of many valuable inven
tions, patented or otherwise. Nearly
every manufacturer in this country
is deriving from scientific discov
cries advantages for which there
have been made little or no pay
nent to the discoverer.
For instance, the makers of coal
tar and the Divers of wool and silk
are using the discovery of niLro
benzine; manufacturers of picine
acid and "Freach purple" have en-
joyed the fruits of the labors of q
wen known Englishman; the vari-
Gus telegraph companies, copper
smelters and makers of copper wire
are using the discovery of the infiu-
ence of impurities on the electric
conducting power of copper. The
makers of electro plate and German
silver are deriving great profits from
the labors of FaradLy; makers of
Bessemer steel enjoy advantages
derived from the spectrum discov
erles of Kirchoff; iron and copper
smclters, metallurgists, dyers, calico
printers, bleachers, brewers, makers
of vinegar, white lead, varnishes,
colors, soaps, phosphorus, oil of
vitriol, and many others, are dis
coveries of Priestly. Added to all
this, there are the pecuniary advan-
tages of the use of even only a few
Of these scientific discoveries where
gains are enormous.
There is not a person in the Uni
ted States who has not derived
some advantage, in one way or an
other, from scientific research. For
instance, the advantages of gaslight,
rapid postal service and transmits
sion of goods, railway travelling,
cotton goods, photography, i'm
proved medicine and surgery, pre-
served meats, condensed milk, &C.,
&c, have been reaped more or less
by every cne, even the pauper com
ing within the pale of the advan-
tages.
Science has also by its develop
ing process given employment to
the whole army of workmen m nun |
erous arts, manufactures and occu
pations. In the United States sci |
entific research gives employment |
in manufactures alone to almost
5000. 900 persons, whose wages, it
is estimated, aggregate $775, 700, 900 |
annually, and the products of whosr
work is valued at S4,500,000,000 |
Hence the importance of scien-
tific research. As has already been
discoveries produced in
ventions, inventions give rise to
processes and manufactures, the !
of workmen and 9th
ers, and the erection of workshops |
and dwellings, towns and cities, and
increase in the value of land-and /
all those great additions to the
value of land are largely due to the
unpaid labors of scientific discov-
cries; and it may be said that this
nation, as well as England, has
largely gained its wealth by, and is
still living in a great degree on, the
product of those labors.
In other words, a very great
amount of the wealth Of thls nation
has been obtained by the applica-
tion of scientific knowledge to the
substances and forces by which we
are surrounded.
Inventions differ from discover
les just as q newly found truth in
science differs from a newly discov
cred process. A discovery is not in
the form of a saleable commodity;
an invention is q combination and
to some useful or de
sired purpose of scientific truths
which have been previously discov
cred. A new discovery soon finds
itself incorporated in a text book,
and the inventor is left to apply it
to some useful purpose, without
money and without price"
Apropos, the patent law origina-
ted id the statute of James l. l625) |
called the statute of monopolies, |
because it abolished patents for mo