x PRACTICAL PURPOSE 267 



score years and ten of man, for the ultimate conception 

 of time is in terms of duration of life. A thousand 

 years may be but an hour to the time-machine which 

 Mr. Edison has produced to delight and instruct the 

 modern world. 



To the engineer the fascination of experimental 

 research lies, as Cap'n Cuttle would observe, " in the 

 application thereof." He seeks to know ; not from 

 the pleasure to be derived from the acquisition of know- 

 ledge, but in order to bring that knowledge to bear 

 upon everyday problems of life, labour and economy. 

 It must not be supposed that this spirit is necessarily 

 foreign to the man of science. Robert Boyle, one of the 

 most active originators of the Royal Society, refers 

 particularly to practical use of the researches undertaken 

 by himself and other pioneers of the experimental 

 method of investigation in England. Writing in 1646, 

 he alludes to his studies in " natural philosophy, the 

 mechanics and husbandry, according to the principles of 

 our new philosophical college that values no knowledge, 

 but as it hath a tendency to use." 



A Chinese proverb states that he who holds the iron 

 of the world will rule the world. This, however, is only 

 a half truth; for China itself has probably as large 

 deposits of iron ore as any part of the world, but it has 

 not the scientific knowledge required to make the best 

 use of them. The talents which that country possesses 

 have been buried in the ground instead of being used to 

 gain other talents. The masters of the world of iron 

 must be those who understand best the properties of the 

 metal, whether now or in the future. As the result of a 

 systematic study of the effects of adding to iron a special 

 element other than carbon, Sir Robert Hadfield produced 

 his famous manganese-steel, which is used extensively 



