April 7, 1911] 



SCIENCE 



515 



In the first place we may well inquire 

 into the origin of the wide-spread belief 

 that the knowledge of various mechanical 

 and chemical arts has been lost to mankind. 

 Probably first among the causes is that 

 universal veneration of antiquity which 

 makes gods and saints oi\t of heroes and 

 martyrs of the past, leads to ancestor wor- 

 ship and in general exaggerates the virtues, 

 the crafts and the deeds of valor of olden 

 times. Secondly, the delight of many per- 

 sons in mystery, their tendency toward 

 belief in the mysterious, occult and miracu- 

 lous, against their better judgment and the 

 facts in. the case, have great influence in 

 originating and perpetuating the belief in 

 lost arts. Thirdly, among the more gen- 

 eral causes, we may place vague statements 

 or sentences which we can not accurately 

 translate in ancient manuscripts. Fourthly, 

 the natural reaction against an egotistical 

 age. Fifthly, the use by ancient peoples 

 for certain purposes of materials which we 

 would not use to-day on account of their 

 unsuitability. This leads to the conclu- 

 sion that the ancients knew of different and 

 better methods of preparing the material. 

 Sixth, it has pleased certain writers and 

 lecturers to insist strongly upon the point 

 that there have been at various times in 

 existence arts no longer known and used. 

 One finds brief statements in various books 

 of such import as "they knew how to 

 harden copper. " " Their mortar outlasted 

 the stone it cemented." "The degree of 

 perfection they reached in enameling has 

 never since been attained," etc. In Amer- 

 ica the man who has had probably more 

 effect than others in this respect was Wen- 

 dell Phillips. His lecture entitled "The 

 Lost Arts ' ' was first delivered in the Amer- 

 ican lyceum course in the winter of 1838. 

 During succeeding years the lecture was 

 repeated about two thousand times and was 

 heard by all sorts of audiences throughout 



the country and at the time and subse- 

 quently made a great impression. Many 

 persons now living still remember the fa- 

 mous lecture. It is difficult to read this 

 lecture to-day and believe that it was seri- 

 ously intended in certain places by Wen- 

 dell Phillips ; yet I am assured by several 

 individuals who heard it that, although 

 illumined by humor in places, it was, as a 

 whole, seriously intended and received. 

 In various lectures Phillips committed 

 many sins against accuracy and truth, but 

 in none more than in the "Lost Arts." 

 He misquoted Pliny in regard to his state- 

 ments about the origin of glass manufac- 

 ture — a tale familiar to you all and hardly 

 rising to the dignity of a first-class fable. 

 And of all authors, Pliny can least afford 

 to be misquoted, being already overbur- 

 dened with inaccuracy and unreliability. 

 Let me present a few brief quotations from 

 this remarkable lecture. 



The chemistry of the most ancient period had 

 reached a point which we have never even ap- 

 proached, and which we in vain struggle to reach 

 to-day. Indeed, the whole management of the 

 effect of light on glass is still a matter of pro- 

 found study. 



The second story of half a dozen — certainly five 

 — related to the age of Tiberius, the time of Saint 

 Paul, and tells of a Eoman who had been ban- 

 ished, and who returned to Eome, bringing a won- 

 derful cup. This cup he dashed upon the marble 

 pavement, and it was crushed, not broken, by the 

 fall. It was dented some, and with a hammer he 

 easily brought it into shape again. It was bril- 

 liant, transparent, but not brittle. I had a wine- 

 glass when I made this talk in New Haven; and 

 among the audience was the owner. Professor 

 Silliman. He was kind enough to come to the 

 platform when I had ended, and say that he was 

 familiar with most of my facts; but speaking of 

 malleable glass, he had this to say — that it was 

 nearly a natural impossibility, and that no amount 

 of evidence which could be brought would make 

 him credit it. Well, the Romans got their chem- 

 istry from the Arabians; they brought it into 

 Spain eight centuries ago, and in their books of 

 that age they claim that they got from the 



