New-York tribune., 1907-01-28
HISTORY OF INVENTIONS.
Ancient Parentage of Some Modern
articles.

There is nothing new under the sun" Is say
ing which most people accept without questioning
Il, hut at the same time few people really neheVe
It Especially IN regard to modern conveniences ana
modern inventions the world has complecen'
feeling that the ancients could not possibly nave
been clever enough to think Of these things anu
therefore it is always shock to discover that Ils
that article commonly supposed 10 pe ouite re-
cent was really In use when Cleopatra was bapy'
For instance, how many women when they eaten
up a safety pin 10 take the place OF lost button
fancy that the Romans used safety pins and IN
the early days OF the empire, tooY But they ulu-
These Roman safety pins. says an article on nOu-
ern Inventions Which Are Ancient History IN
Tho Scientific American" for January. were some
Of them precisely like those OF to-day, utilizing the
principle of the cOiled spring and catch' 6ut I"e
material Of which they were made was bronze ana
frequently they developed in ways whlcn the
makers OF modern safety pins have never tried 70
initiate. Some Of them were nine or ten tnches IN
length, and hollow as II meant to contain some
thing Possibly the Romans carried flowers in
these safety pins fastening the latter to the breast
Of the togal AS the pins frequently lncrusteo
with gems. It seems not unlikely that they were
The collar stud is another invention that Is very
Old As the ancient Romano did not & %eaT It tbe
@ IS n4t no kHown e11 ba1 had them made Of bronaa
1t would be interesting 10 know II the Roman eoiar
stud was perverse about rolling under furniture
as the modern one is, and what the Roman SAD as
OF ali modem articles none seems more entirely
modern than the paper clip when WTits[s s, az 40
paper together. Yet this recently patented paper
clip was made in Rome two thousand years age. ago
iegionary being fastened 10 the copper with series
of bronze clamps, exactly Ike these paper fast
eners. , =.
scribed is exhibited at the smithsonian Institution
at Washington, which has got dogether vSIk os ~.
other objects 10 DO seen there are bronze thimbes
TIVE {o 9ee ana the SIDES show s
tations which the modern ones have for engaging
The small tweezers which the women OF to-day
use sometimes 70 pun OUT an an uslsS i6 y h Two tboT
sand years The Roman women had them and
they also rad boikins exactly Ike the modern ones
fortunate than the bellies Of to-day no one at SnS,
wire for holding the hair in place Their halrpins
big spherieai hesds In fact the 6atpn derived
from that early type OF hairpin II must haye been
have such a sharp ana handy. weapon OF defence
and aggression always about them. .,-oo % ,s n
number Of hshhooks which are at least three thou
in ancient swiss dwellings,. might. save for the
fact that they are OF bronze have 9een maze Ia1e
the hooks which used by the fisherman OK 70
to Of the shank for the attachment Of the line.
other curios be seen in that collection are ladies'
from . %16 GtSfah Gee,o 4sT,ca we're cast In uouds
that were carved oHt Of hard stone. a pair OF
stones used to produce the object Which was
The men Of ancient Rome had razors, but were
fortunate in them as the women or that al DAY day
I'm some of their toilet appliances For their razOEs
were as the specimen IN the Smithsonian COLLECTION
shows very clumsy n make, shaped ike a sickle
with a broad blade and a handle rigidly attached
These too were made OF bronze. But the hnetooth
conbs OF those DAYS made OF ivory and were
sbaped like the hnetooth combs of 1905 a. d.
Cicero wore false teeth and so doubtless dld
many of his compatriots Of ripe age They also
carried Iatchkeys. and they had clever plan for
carrying these keys where they could be got az
without fail no matter wnat the condition OF the
/ owner A Roman carried his latchkey attached TO
Mirrors also the ancient Romans had ana their
hand mirrors were Of the shape OF the most fash
toDaile ones OF to-day But the art OF sivering
glass 10 make IL serve reflector not having
been discovered then, the Roman mirrors were or
polished bronze. -. 49,,
PEOPLE must have had rather hazy idea OF their
own apDearance then. which would be an Rdvan-
tage or a disadvantage. according 20 the way a
person Views II.