The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1911-10-19
Nothing New Under the SIM
Most of the Wonderful Discoveries of Modern Times
Known to the Ancients.
caused between thin a ,sympatheti,

jcaused between thm a sympathetic
correspondence Of motion.
James Watt took out a patent OH
his steam engine i'll 1859. II as far
hack as 1543 there was a captain in
Spain who constructed a vessel of zoo
tons and propelled 1t at Barcelona in
the presence of the Emperor Charles
V and his court by an engine. the con-
| struction of which he kept a secret.
Rut an old document says hat in 1t
was a monster caldron Of water. and
that there were two movable wheels
on the outside OF the ressel. h En-
peror was satisfied with its operation.
hut the treasurer OF the kingdom oh.
iected to it. and SO. no encouragement
vas given to the enterprise. the poor
inventor. whose name was Rlasco de
Guerrero. wearied and disguised at the
want Of patronage. took the engine OUT
Of the vessel and the secret Of the ma
chine was buried in his grave.
This incident was almost duplicated
in France a century later. The IA
nous Marian de lOrme. a celebrated
French-woman. who lived to he 1874
years old. told in a letter to an adj
mirer dated 1914. Of a man confined
in a madhouse Of Paris for urging that
anything could be done by the force
Of steam. The mans name was Solo
mon de Coste. a. native Of Normandy.
and it was because he had perslstently
followed Cardinal Richelieu. implor-
ing him to take an interest III MS IN
vention, that he was put behind the
bars.
The use Of ether for producing
anaesthesia was first practically ADOPT
ed by MIR. Martin of Boston in 1916.
and that Of chloroform by Dr.. Simp-
son Of Edinburgh in 1S47. But rude
~expedients to deaden the nerves to
pain were practiced centuries ago.
Pliny, the Roman naturalist. who
lived in the first century of the Chris
tan era. in writing "f the plant known
as the mandragors. says:
1T has a soporitic power on the fac
ulties of those who drink 1t. The ordi-
nary potion is half a cup. 1t is drunk
against serpents. and before cuttings
and uncturings. lest they should be
felt"
The Chinese. too-who anticipated
the Europeans in so MANY important
inventions. as in gunpowder. the ma
riner's compass. printing. photography.
paper money. the use of coal-made
use. centuries ago.. of anaesthettcs
The following passage is found IN the
biography of I1oatho. a Chinese ply
stefan. vino lived in the third century:
IF the disease resided in a part
NtlfTe liz uSeuie VI ii'luiN
ments could not operate-for en-
ample. in the bones. or the marrow
of the bones. in the stomach or the
Iviscera. he gave the-patient a prepara-
,ion of hemp. and after a few mo
ments he was as insensihle as If he
| had been drunk or dead. Then, as the
case required. he performed the OPP
erations. After a certain number OF
| days the patient recovered. without
having experienced the slightest pain
during the operation"
Both Dante and Shakespeare pre-.
coded Newton in knowledge of the
principle. If not the law, Of gravitation,
Shakespeare says in "Troilus and
Cressida:"
But the strong base and building OF
my love
Is as the very center Of the earth,
Drawing all things to 1t.
Three centuries before Shakespeare
Dante said in the Inferno"
Thou dost imagine We are still
On the other side the celestial point
where 1
Clasped the earth-riercing worm. fe',
cause of i'll.
So far I continued to descend.
That side we kept: but when I turn,
end. then we
Had passed the point to which all DO.
dies tend.