12 EARLY WORKS 



Evidence we possess of horse-trappings, several 

 centuries before Christ, point to a high pitch of 

 stable-management. So we are justified in sup- 

 posing that many inventions which were in daily- 

 use in those times were never written about. 



Whips, stable-implements, bits, horse-shoes, 

 veterinary instruments — some even possibly better 

 than those in use now — all these we have named 

 were in existence. We can only know about 

 these relics of a horsey past through historians 

 and sculptors, and are obliged to fill gaps they 

 have left in the best way we can. 



Historians may never have mentioned now 

 long-forgotten discoveries which, though common 

 in their day, are a sealed book to us. This 

 must be so when we think seriously, because it is 

 often difficult to establish a connecting link in a 

 carefully pieced chain of evidence having only 

 one flaw. 



We are aware from a bas-relief that a whip or 

 a certain bit was used, and yet neither of them 

 are easily traceable for a period extending over 

 perhaps a century or even more. 



Such is history. Such is the inventor and the 

 thing invented ! Future historians may have the 

 same difficulty in tracing our attempts to make 

 satisfactory flying-machines and easily managed 

 submarine - boats, tube railways, or motor-cars 

 that rarely break down. Innovations are usually 

 chronicled at the time of their birth. Sometimes 

 all reference to them is burnt, or perishes in a 

 manner never dreamed of by the thoughtful mind 

 who chronicled the inventor's achievements. 



