24 ILLINOIS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



gicians of today ; chemists, engineers and electricians. At their 

 command the spirits of air, water, earth and fire have been 

 made to do man's every bidding. They propel his steamships, 

 railway cars, and mighty engines; they make his garments; 

 they build his houses; they illuminate his cities; they harvest 

 his crops. For him they make ice in the tropics or grow 

 oranges amid snow. For him they fan a heated atmosphere 

 into cooling breezes or banish icy Winds. They flash his news 

 around the globe ; they carry the sound of his voice for thous- 

 ands of miles, or preserve it after he is dead. Verily the 

 fairies and genii of old did not so much for Solomon in all 

 his glory." 



Science has followed closely on the dreams of the poet and 

 made them realities. Many years ago Tennyson said : 



"Here about the beach I wander'd, nourishing a youth sublime 

 With the fairy tales of science, and the long result of Time; 

 When the centuries behind me like a fruitful land reposed; 

 When I clung to all the present for the promise that it closed. 



When I dipt into the future far as human eye could see; 



Saw the Vision of the world, and all the wonder that would be. — " 



"Saw the heavens fill with commerce, argosies of magic sails, 

 Pilots of the purple twilight, dropping down with costly bales; 

 Heard the heavens fill with shouting, and there rain'd a ghostly dew, 

 From the nations' airy navies grappling in the central blue; 



Far along the world-wide whisper of the southwind rushing warm, 

 With the standards of the peoples plunging thro' the thunder-storm; 



Till the war-drum throbb'd no longer, and the battle-flags were furl'd 

 In the Parliament of man, the Federation of the world. 



There the common sense of most shall hold a fretful realm in awe, 

 And the kindly earth shall slumber, lapt in universal law." 



The dream of Tennyson is a reality of today and many 

 European cities now with dread see "the nation's airy navies 

 grappling in the central blue." 



The submarine that can go a thousand miles under the 

 water and with deadly blow destroy the strongest warships; 

 the armored automobile; the cannon that will carry twenty- 

 five miles, are all creatures of the giant — science that has come 

 to rule the material world. 



Said one Irishman to another : "Mike, I see they are send- 

 ing telegrams now without any poles or any wires." "Yes," 

 replied Pat, "and pretty soon we will be able to travel without 

 leaving home." This is about true today. Seated in the halls 

 of our home town, the moving pictures take us to the most ex- 

 tended corner of the globe and we become conversant with the 



