154: TRANSACTIONS OF THE 



both. There is nothhig more strikhig than the variety of cutlery 

 on a well-furnished table. The time is not remote when one knife 

 worn at the belt served the purpose of all these, so far as these pur- 

 poses existed, and of many others; when the table knife was not 

 differentiated from the dagger of the soldier or the tool of the 

 artisan. A man then used one knife to cut out a leather sole, to shape 

 his arrow, to carve his food, and to stab his enemy. Changes in 

 modes of living have led first to the broader specializations ; fashion, 

 caprice, and increasing refinement to others ; till one scarcely dares 

 attempt to enumerate the various forms of carvers and table knives 

 of various sorts differing in form and material, each adapted by 

 some feature for its particular use, and each the result of some 

 degree of invention, with which the tables of Europe and America 

 are furnished. Undoubtedly this process has gone on ever since 

 man became an inventor, and might be illustrated as perfectly, 

 though not so profusely, in the implements and weapons of the 

 savage as in those of civilized men. All study of invention must 

 take account of it. As soon as men began to adapt sticks to their 

 use by artificially pointing them they began to find in them various 

 degrees of hardness, weight, length, and rigidity, qualities fitting 

 them for diverse uses, and as skill and experience were acquired 

 they fashioned them accordingly. Likewise when man had begun 

 to employ flint flakes, and before he had learned to fashion them 

 to his will, he selected from the splinters made by accident or by 

 his own unskilled blovvs those which served best such diversified 

 uses as he had found out. 



My seventh proposition, and final one so far as this paper is con- 

 cerned, is that no art makes progress alone. I venture to assert the 

 universality of this truth from what is seen in the recorded history 

 of all inventions. In the development of the mechanic arts, two or 

 more arts distinct in their nature but having close interdependence 

 make advance pari passu. If one lags the other is necessarily 

 retarded. If one makes rapid progress the other springs forward with 

 quickened impulses. An improved utensil or article of manufacture 

 may be the result of or may lead to improved processes and tools and 

 machines for producing it, or to improved means for its employ- 

 ment. The progress of the steam-engine was long retarded by the 

 imperfection of iron-working machines, since perfect cylinders could 

 not be produced. The progress of electrical invention has neces- 

 sitated the invention of new machines and processes for insulating 



