Audubon County journal. (Exira, Iowa) 1884-1993, 1898-02-17
cLYsMAL INVENTIONS.
Their Effeot Is Always Slowly FelA aid
Distributed. ~ y

CAT ECLYShiAL lNVE;NTlWNlS.
Their Effaot Is Always Slowly Felh aid
Distributed.
Thsmost cataclysmaLof alllinven-s
tons, that of gunpowder-which,
by the way, was probably invented
TWICE, for Greek fire must have been
the. same thing used. with an i'm
perfect knowledge of its propelling
power, and the one which most af-
fected the organization of society
by destroying the value, of armor
and equalizing the. power of men
of different sizes-.toOk a gener-
alton to spread abroad, and when it
did spread hardly affected the rela-
tive strength Of the nations. If
such an invention were discovered
now, the papers would ring with
prophecies, probably of German
or British conquest of the world,
which would not happen a bit the
faster for all the appropriations,
Printing was grand discovery,
and, though it did not help the Chi
nese much, did help Europeans a
great deal but it did not help. them
suddenly, and for the immense ma
jority ct mankind it might just as
we'll never have occurred. Steam
is a grand discovery, but it has not
upset the world, it has been utilized
only by degrees, and, like printing,
the mass of mankind knows very lit
tie about it, one-third of the hui
man race, indeed, denouncing it still
as something which s'haazes and
maazes the blessed fealds. y
The discovery of the way to har-
ness lightning, which excites the
imagination even of poets, is one of
the greatest man has made, but ii
has upset nothing except newspaper
arrangements, and beyond enabling
nations to talk together as individ-
uals do it has produced no conse-
quences. 1t is, we suppose, possible
that somebody may discover a way
of destroying fleet from balloon,
and thus deprive the richest nation
of its maritime advantages, but
mode of counteracting that discov-
cry would probably be found at the
same time, and the balance of mari
time power would remain unchang-
ed. There never can be an elixir of
life because all men are sentenced
to capital punishment, but prepa-
ration which would destroy or neu-
tralize all hostile bacteria, germs,
spores, OF whatever they call the
injurious atoms, is, at all events,
conceivable, but it would be years
before it greatly influenced the per-
manent health even Of races bright
enough to believe in the physicians
opinions. Remember the savage
opposition to vaccination in the
teeth oflevidence really as strong as
that which demonstrates any arith-
metical proposition.
From all that what deductioni
Simply this, that the readiness to
take alarm, which is one handspring
of modern credulity, is not justified
either by experience or theory and
that men should receive all an
nouncements Of cataclysmal discov-
cry OF invention with a Willingness
to inquire and a quiet conviction
that if false they do not matter and
if true they will affect things very
slowly and will develop counter
vailing and restraining influences.
According to science, a meteorite big
enough to shatter the world might
strike it and bring even labor trou-
bles or the German emperor's ex-
periments to an end, but the uni
verse is governed by powers before
which even science is very ignorant,
and, judgi.g from all experience,
the meteorite will either be shatter-
ed in time or just miss usAin its
course through space. - London
Spectator.
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