SCIENCE, INVENTION, DISCOVERY. 



329 



traveler to his destruction; and unfortunately 

 there are many instances on record of travelers 

 mistaking the ignis-fatuus for a lamp, and 

 being thus decoyed into marshy places, -where 

 they perished. The ignis-fatuus is not a com- 

 mon phenomenon, but it is not unfrequently 

 seen iu the north of Germany, the swampy 

 and moorland districts in the south and north- 

 west of England, and in the lowlands of Scot- 

 land. 



Important Origins. Air Balloons, in- 

 vented by Gusmac, a Jesuit, in 1729. Revived 

 in France by M. Montgolfier, in 1783. 



Air Guns, invented by Guhr, of Nuremberg, 

 in 1656. 



Arquebus, introduced about 1520, and re- 

 mained in use until after 1567, when the 

 matchlock supplanted it. In 1630 the flint 

 lock was invented, and the musket was intro- 

 duced. 



Banking. The first bank in Europe was the 

 Bank of Venice, 1171. The Bank of England 

 was established in 1694, the Bank of North 

 America, 1781. 



Barometers, invented in 1626 ; wheel barom- 

 eters in 1668, phosphoric in 1675, pendent in 

 1695, and marine in 1700. 



Battering Ram, invented 441 B. C. 



Bayonets, invented at Bayonne, in 1670. 

 First used in England in 1693. At first these 

 had wooden handles fitting into the guns, but 

 in 1699 the socket bayonet was introduced. 



Bellows. Strabo informs us that the inven- 

 tion of bellows is due to the Scythian philoso- 

 pher, Anacharsis, who lived in the time of 

 Solon. 



Bombs, invented at Venlo, in 1588, and used 

 first in the service of France, in 1634. 



Bridges. The first bridge of stone in Eng- 

 land was that built at Bow, near Stratford, in 

 1087. 



Bullets of stone used in 1514. Iron bullets 

 irst mentioned in 1550. 



Camera Obscura, invented by Baptista Porta, 



1515. 



Chain Shot, invented by DeWitt, Dutch Ad- 

 miral, in 1666. 



Chimneys, first introduced in England, in 

 1200, but at first only in the kitchen or large 

 hall. 



China, made at Dresden, in Saxony, in 

 1706 ; at Chelsea (England) in 1752 ; by Mr. 

 Wedgwood in 1762. 



Chronograph, A, is an instrument noting time 

 within the fraction of a second. By the elec- 

 trical chronograph used by astronomers, the 

 transit of a star can be recorded to within one 

 hundredth of a second. 



Chronometer, The, is an instrument for 

 measuring tirne, now generally applied only to 



those watches specially made for determining 

 longitude at sea. A chronometer which gained 

 a prize of $100,000, offered by the British 

 Board of Longitude for a timepiece to ascertain 

 longitude within thirty miles, was made in 

 1761, by John Harrison of Foulby, near 

 Pontefract. 



Clepsydra, The, is an instrument to measure 

 time by the trickling or escape of water. In 

 Babylonia, India, and Egypt, the clepsydra 

 was used from before the dawn of history, 

 especially in astronomical observations. 



Clocks are of ancient date, one having been 

 made by Pacificus, archdeacon of Verona, in 

 the ninth century. Clocks with wheels were 

 used in monasteries about the twelfth century, 

 and were made to strike the hour. Pendulum 

 said to have been first applied by Harris, 

 1641; dead-beat pendulum invented 1700, 

 and the compensating pendulum, 1715. 



Coal Mines, discovered in the neighborhood 

 of Newcastle about 1234. Coals were first 

 used in London in the reign of Edward I., 

 when the smoke was supposed to corrupt the 

 air to such an extent that he forbade the use 

 of them by a proclamation, 1273 ; first brought 

 from Newcastle to London, 1381. 



Coffee introduced into Arabia Felix, 1454 ; 

 became known at Constantinople 'and coffee 

 houses opened, 1554 ; brought to Marseilles, 

 1644 ; the art of roasting and making it intro- 

 duced at London by a Greek servant, and house 

 opened in Georgeyard, Lombard street, 1652. 



Cosmos is a term used to denote the order 

 and harmony of the universe. Originally used 

 by Homer to denote " order," it was applied 

 by Heraclitus and Anaxagoras to the divine 

 order and arrangement of nature ; by Plato to 

 celestial and terrestrial order. It was further 

 applied to the habitable world and the world 

 generally as an orderly system. 



Delf (or Delft) earthenware invented at 

 Firenze in 1450. 



Envelopes for letters are mentioned by Swift, 

 1726. Stamped adhesive envelopes came into 

 general use shortly after the establishment of 

 the penny postal system in 1840. Machinery 

 for their manufacture was patented in 1844 ; 

 many improvements have since been made. 



Express. The first American express was 

 opened between New York and Boston, in 1821 , 

 by W. F. Harnden. 



Figures, in arithmetic, introduced into Eu- 

 rope by the Saracens from Arabia, 991 ; till 

 then, letters were used. 



Flag. The American flag was first used by 

 Washington at Cambridge, January 1, 1776. 



Guns, invented by Swartz, a German, about 

 1378 ; brought into use by the Venetians; 1382 ; 

 great ones first used at the battle of Crecy, 



