A HISTORY OF SCIENCE 



to the development of civilization itself. Bearing this 

 distinction still in mind, and recalling that the histori- 

 cal period, which is to be the field of our observation 

 throughout the rest of our studies, extends for Egypt 

 well back into the fifth millennium B.C., let us briefly 

 review the practical phases of that civilization to 

 which the Egyptian had attained before the beginning 

 of the dynastic period. Since theoretical science is 

 everywhere linked with the mechanical arts, this sur- 

 vey will give us a clear comprehension of the field that 

 lies open for the progress of science in the long stages 

 of historical time upon which we are just entering. 



We may pass over such rudimentary advances in the 

 direction of civilization as are implied in the use of 

 articulate language, the application of fire to the uses 

 of man, and the systematic making of dwellings of one 

 sort or another, since all of these are stages of progress 

 that were reached very early in the prehistoric period. 

 What more directly concerns us is to note that a really 

 high stage of mechanical development had been reached 

 before the d awnings of Egyptian history proper. All 

 manner of household utensils were employed ; the pot- 

 ter's wheel aided in the construction of a great variety 

 of earthen vessels ; weaving had become a fine art, and 

 weapons of bronze, including axes, spears, knives, and 

 arrow-heads, were in constant use. Animals had long 

 been domesticated, in particular the dog, the cat, and 

 the ox ; the horse was introduced later from the East. 

 The practical arts of agriculture were practised almost 

 as they are at the present day in Egypt, there being, 

 of course, the same dependence then as now upon the 

 inundations of the Nile. 



3 



