Evolution in General 



he was threatened with death and forced to retract his 

 heresy because the Bible spoke of "the four corners of the 

 earth." For many centuries, many millions of over credu- 

 lous persons believed that a woman has one more rib than 

 a man has. The church taught this doctrine. 



Seventy years ago, there appeared a front page news 

 item in a Boston newspaper, under the caption, "Swindler 

 Exposed, New York Authorities Uncover Gigantic Fraud," 

 the story quoted is as follows : "A man about 46 years of 

 age, giving the name of Joshua Coppersmith, has been 

 arrested in New York for attempting to extort funds from 

 ignorant and superstitious people by exhibiting a device 

 which he says will convey the human voice any distance over 

 metallic wires so that it will be heard by the listener at the 

 other end. He calls the instrument a 'telephone,' which is 

 obviously intended to imitate the word 'telegraph' and win 

 the confidence of those who know of the success of the lat- 

 ter instrument without understanding the principles on 

 which it is based. 



"Well-informed people know that It is impossible to 

 transmit the human voice over wires as may be done with 

 dots and dashes and signals of the Morse Code, and that, 

 were it possible to do so, the thing would be of no practical 

 value. The authorities who apprehended this criminal are 

 to be congratulated and it is hoped that his punishment will 

 be prompt and fitting, and it may serve as an example to 

 other conscienceless schemers who enrich themselves at the 

 expense of their fellow creatures." This statement was 

 made within the memory of those still living. The above, 

 no doubt, reflected a popular view at the time when it was 



[15] 



