Economy of Machinery and Manufactures. 105 



Art. X. — An analytical examination of Prof. Babbage' s u Economy 



of Machinery and Manufactures. 



«* 



An 



and Manufactures has recently appeared in England, which elucidates 



* 



many valuable principles, and comprehends much instruction both for 

 manufacturers and for men of science. This work is executed with 

 the precision of a mind habituated to scientific research, under the 

 severe guidance of the inductive philosophy, and is such a produc- 

 tion as we might expect from Prof. Babbage, whose name is con- 

 spicuous on the list of modern English philosophers. 



The intellectual light, which within the last half century, has beam- 

 ed upon Europe with such unprecedented splendor, has developed 

 the mysterious powers of nature to the penetrating eye of the sci- 

 entific inquirer; the diffusion of knowledge has enabled the ingen- 

 ious mechanic to apply these newly discovered powers to his own 

 use; and although "in the history of each article oT manufac- 

 ture a series of failures have occurred, they disclose an incredible 

 amount of patient thought, of repeated experiment, and of happy 

 exertion of genius, which have, gradually, led the way to excel- 

 lence." We now look with admiration and astonishment, at the 

 results of the application of scientific principles to matter ; where 

 the great powers of nature are brought under the control of man, 

 which in their turn, compel inanimate and unwieldy things to work 

 with the dexterity of thinking beings — with a rapidity far sur- 

 passing human efforts — and with a degree of skill, which, at no 

 remote period, would have been attributed to preternatural agency. 

 Nor, are these surprising results beneficial only to the country where 

 they have originated. "The luxurious natives of the east, and the 

 rude inhabitants of Africa are indebted to the looms of England/' 

 and every country in Europe and America, participates in the pro- 

 ducts of the mechanic arts, as at present conducted in the United 

 Kingdom. " The cottonf of India is conveyed by British ships 



* Since this notice has been put into type we have learned that the interesting 

 work of Prof. Babbage has been reprinted in Philadelphia by Carey & Lea. 



\ Bandanna handkerchiefs, made in Glasgow, have long ago superseded the gen- 

 uine ones in China and India, where they originated — dishes and utensils of the 

 London stamp were seen by Clapperton at the court of the Sultan Bello; and at 

 Calicut, where calicoes originated, and whence they derived their name, the mar- 

 ket is supplied with the article from England. 



Vol. XXIV— No. 1 . 14 



