The Penn's Grove record., 1907-03-08
Science in the Nineteenth Century.

Science In the Nineteenth Century.
1t eers too bad, when there is So
much really good work being done In
fiction, poetry, household decoration,
dermatology, baby culture and elite
directories, that the achievements of
science In the nineteenth century
should have been so lightly passed
over. This slurring of scientific
achievements is a pity. Only about
1000 works on the subject have been
published, and there are still one or
two eminent" scientists who are ST.
lent. They should be stirred up.
In the meantime, to supply this crying
need, let us. deal with the subject. We
want to give science her due. We
have been longing SO long to throw
bouquets at her that we cannot resist
the temptation. Let us take hold of
the last century, spread 1t out fiat, not
letting the corners turn up, and at
least indicate, If we may do no more,
the vast obligations to science that lie
at our doors.
To begin with, so filed are we with
the conceit Of automobiles and flying
machines that we are apt to forget the
locomotive, just because it happens to
run entirely by steam. Yet think of
what the locomotive has done for us.
1t has increased our capacity to hurry
a thousandfold. And there Is no sim
gle disease we know Of that has by
itself cut off more common people thar
the locomotive. A disease sometimes
gets tired and lays off, but the locomo-
tive is always doing business at the
same old stand.
The steamship is another admirable
feature. Think of how many ports one
can touch in a given time with a neu-
rotic steamship and how often, oh, how
often, we can go to Europe! Isn't 1t
nice to feel that we can be just as rest
less in a Paris hotel In seven days
from now as we are here?
Perhaps one Of the greatest inven-
tons of the century is the telephone.
There is no friend, no matter how un-
important, and no bore, no matter how
trifing, who cannot now reach us over
the telephone.
Wireless telegraphy dates its incep-
ton from the close Of the nineteenth
century. While not yet completed, it
is only a question of time when, the
vibratory idea being perfected, our
minds will be called up, and the dulcet
voice of central" will echo through
the halls of our psychic selves. This,
of course, will but add to the already
teeming scientific joys Of existence.
At present the automobile and the
electric car-the latest achievements of
science-are on top, and we take off
our hats to them. They are doing good
work and fully justifying the hopes of
the inventors. 1t must not be forgot
ten also that the automobile Is taking
off a better class of citizens, including
women and children, than ever before.
1t is higher up in the social scale.
The crowning achievements Of bio
logical ambition in the nineteenth CEN
fury, however, are in the field of med
ical science. The number Of new dis
eases discovered Is alone a monument
Of invention. All the germs are not
yet classified, but this necessarily takes
time. Those. who are too willing to de-
cry wholesale operations should re-
member that it has been through these
that many of the most ablebodied
germs have been discovered. And
what, pray, could we do without
germs?
A careful study Of Shakesperiana re-
veals the fact that the poet was threat
ened with s~mallpox-if he didn't &C
tually have it-and had all the symp-
toms Of appendicitis. What q pity he
couldn't have been ~vaccinated in tmel
He would probably have had the lock-
jaw, but lockjaw, at any rate, does not
directly produce writer's cramp. And
If he had had that appendix removed
Julius Caesar" might have had some
new twists to it. The doctors would
have been paid, however, as William
wouldn't have been persuaded that it
was the only thing to do until he was
opulent enough to be a satisfactory
patient.
Great Is science! About the only
thing it hasn't been able to create ISL
better man. TOM MASON.