A Story Outline of Evolution 



during rains, snows and fogs It was useless. Some of the 

 signalling lines established In England were idle for periods 

 of as much as nine months each year because of excessive 

 fogs. Any system that had to yield to the changing condi- 

 tions of the elements must of necessity be cast into the dis- 

 card as soon as better methods were evolved; but like the 

 stagecoach, it served its purpose In Its day. 



Man's Inventive genius has thus far been able to meet 

 the demands of the changing conditions of our civilization 

 by devising mechanical agencies, aided by the laws of 

 Nature, that will produce the desired results. Since speedy 

 communication Is the most important factor in organized 

 society, and since Cultural Evolution had advanced to a 

 state wherein necessity demanded a better system than was 

 then In use. Nature gave up another secret in the form of 

 electro-telegraphy that eliminated both time and space so 

 far as practical human calculations are concerned and made 

 approximately instant communication possible. 



The ancients knew something of the force of frictional 

 electricity as early as 600 B. C. They did not understand 

 this force and neither do we after nearly 3,000 years of 

 experimenting with It. Amber is the fossil resin of a pine 

 tree and Is found on the shores of the Mediterranean sea 

 and elsewhere In Southern Europe. It was a semi-precious 

 stone among the ancients as it is now with us. When this 

 stone was rubbed against some other objects, it became mag- 

 netized and had the power of attracting lighter bodies to 

 It. Thales of Miletus, the father of Greek philosophy, 

 explained this mysterious effect by ascribing to it a "soul" 

 and he let it go at that; but as the centuries rolled on, men 



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