182 TRANSACTIONS OF THE 
possible have meant to civilization. It will be readily seen 
that the activities of the modern world would be utterly im- 
possible with the old methods of transportation. When 
months were required to haul a wagon load of freight across 
the continent, it is obvious that nothing but the most pre- 
cious commodities could be thus conveyed. 
The casual observer looking at an automobile does not 
realize that it is made up of many complex parts, each one 
of which probably required a number of stages of develop- 
ment on the part of scientific workers before it was finally 
completed. The electric current used in the spark, the 
workings of the internal combustion engine, the mechanism 
used in transmission, and the vulcanizing of rubber which 
made pneumatic tires possible all demanded years of patient 
work on the part of scientists. 
Closely associated with transportation are the improved 
methods of communication. Fast mails, the telegraph, the 
telephone, and the wireless telegraph and telephone in- 
dicate the service that science has rendered to the com- 
munication of intelligence. At present only a few hours 
are required to learn the happenings in all parts of the 
world, while in the days before science discovered the uses 
of steam and electricity, months were necessary to convey 
news to the various parts of a country as large as the United 
States. In the old days business had to be confined largely 
to local transactions; today there is no geographical limit 
to exchange. Formerly the people knew practically noth- 
ing beyond local happenings; at present all feel themselves 
to be parts of an immense world community. 
Human health and well being have been so materially 
aided by science that a return to the old conditions would 
arouse a feeling of horror in all who realize the situation. 
It has not been many centuries since practically all bodily 
ailments were attributed to unfavorable stellar conditions 
or to evil spirits. The disease was diagnosed by a study of 
the stars rather than by an examination of the body. 
The germ theory of disease had its origin as late as 
1860 and was not thoroughly established until almost 1880. 
Before this time medicine was simply groping in the dark. 
