Lawrence democrat. (Lawrenceburg, Tenn.) 1884-1925, 1891-03-27
NOTHING NEW.
rhe Ancients Knew Almost Everything
That the Moderns Know.


That the Moderns Know.
We pride ourselves on living in an
age of discovery and invention, and pity
our ancestors for being born too soon.
Yet much of this is misplaced, says
William Alva. The real truth seems to
be that the ancients knew about every
thing we know, only the knowledge
was not generally diffused.
The learned man 1000 or 5000 years
ago was SO far superior to the majority
that he was regarded as wizard, and
prudently kept his learning to himself.
In our schools at the present day we
use "Euclid's Elements of Geometry"
written by Euclid 1900 years ago. Eu-
clid also wrote on music and optics, an
tedating much which we think we dis
covered.
The science of optics must have been
pretty far advanced in his day, because
we know that Alexander the Great had
copy of the "Iliad" inclosed in a nut
shell, and it is quite certain that it could
not have been written without the aid
of a microscope.
Layard found in the ruins of Nineveh
what Sir David Brewster pronounced to
be ''magnifying-glass," and nearly
1000 years ago the Egyptians and Assy-
rians observed the stars through a
''sliding-tube," which we have reason
to believe was telescope.
We make some very fine razors at the
present day, but we can not make any
finer steel than that contained in the
Damascus swords and knives which the
ancients used several thousand years
ago.
At the same time the people of Tyre
were such experts in dyeing that the
Tyrian purple remains unexcelled to
this day. The Egyptians were also
wonderful dyers, and could produce
colors SO durable that they may be
called imperishable.
The ancients were wonderful glass
workers and discovered method OF
making it malleable, which we have not
been able to do. They could spin glass
into garments, dye it in every shade OF
the rainbow, and etch it with marvellous
skill.
Twenty centuries before the birth OF
Watt, Hero of Alexandria described ma
chimes whose motive power was steam.
He also invented double force pump,
used as fire engine, and anticipated
the modern turbine wheel by a machine
he named "Neolpile."
Electricity derives its name from the
Greek word for amber, electron, be-
cause Thales, about 900 B. c., discov
cred that amber, when rubbed, attracts
light and dry bodies, and in the twelfth
century the scientific priests of Etruria
drew lightning from the clouds with
iron rods.
All the mechanical powers, the screw
lever, pulley, incline plane, wedge
wheel and axle, were known to the
ancients and used in everyday life
They were expert builders as existing
relics testify.
The ancient Gauls used reaping
machine. Hobbs gave his name to {
lock found in the tomb of Egypt.
Natural gas conveyed in bamboo tubes
was utilized in China centuries ago, ant
one Of the Mongolian authors writes O.
boxes which repeated the sound o.
'oioeo "a inon iune 1inoo uoa on - az I.
proXllnation 10 the phonograpn Oh hoi
son.
nmedical skill the oriental physiciau'
of India practiced vaccination 1,OO'
wears ago. Anasthetics were known
IN tho davs of Homer and the Chimes,
q ooo - aaa IA ,ro,,or.t;o, -
I'UUv yIa,a as nu ss',, poePr a. "n doado, ~
io!ip' t1': n ." - IL ~ ~ -,