CAPTIVE MOLECULES 



ment, and the man whose name is remembered was 

 among the last to enter the field. We have seen that 

 the steam engine existed as a practical working machine 

 several decades before Watt made his first invention; 

 and that what Watt really accomplished was merely the 

 perfecting of an apparatus which already had attained 

 a considerable measure of efficiency. 



There would seem, then, to be a certain lack of 

 justice in ascribing supreme importance to Watt in 

 connection with the steam engine. Yet this measure of 

 injustice we shall find, as we examine the history of 

 various inventions, to be meted always by posterity in 

 determining the status of the men whom it is pleased 

 to honor. One practical rule, and one only, has always 

 determined to whom the chief share of glory shall be 

 ascribed in connection with any useful invention. 



The question is never asked as to who was the 

 originator of the idea, or who made the first tentative 

 efforts towards its utilization, or, if asked by the 

 historical searcher, it is ignored by the generality of 

 mankind. 



So far as the public verdict, which in the last resort de- 

 termines fame, is concerned, the one question is, Who 

 perfected the apparatus so that it came to have general 

 practical utility? It may be, and indeed it usually is 

 the case, that the man who first accomplished the final 

 elaboration of the idea, made but a comparatively slight 

 advance upon his predecessors; the early workers 

 produced a machine that was almost a success; only 

 some little flaw remained in their plans. Then came 

 the perfecter, who hit upon a device that would correct 



