50 



SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. I. No. 



which were peculiar to their suppers, and 

 inquirj' was at once directed to these oysters. 

 It was found that they had been obtained 

 fi-om the deep water of Long Ishmd Sound 

 and had been deposited iu the moutli of a 

 fresh water ci-eek to freshen, or to ' fatten,' 

 as it is termed, since under such cfrcuni- 

 stanees the oyster absorbs the fresh water 

 by osmosis and therefore swells and becomes 

 plump. Further inqiiirj' showed that, 

 within about three hundi'ed feet of the 

 place where the oysters had been dej)Osited, 

 was the outlet of a private sewer coming 

 from a house in which were two cases of 

 typhoid fever at the time when the oysters 

 were taken up and sent to the University. 



The tj^hoid bacillus will live for a time 

 in salt or brackish water, and it was proved 

 by trial that if such bacilli are forced in be- 

 tween the two valves of the shell they re- 

 mained aUve long enough to enable the 

 oj^sters to be carried and used at the fra- 

 ternity suppers. "Whether the bacillus will 

 grow and multiply in living or dead oj'sters 

 has not yet been determined, but experi- 

 ments on this point are in progress. 



It will be seen that the e^ddence that the 

 outbreak of tjqjhoid was produced by these 

 oysters is purely circumstantial, but the 

 links in the chain are well connected and 

 strong. 



It is by no means certain that there were 

 any tj'phoid germs within the oj'sters or 

 the oyster shells when they were sent to 

 Middletown. If the shells were smeared 

 on the outside with typhoid excreta some 

 particles of this might easily have gotten 

 among the oysters during the process of 

 opening them. But it is evident that oj^s- 

 ters grown or fattened in positions where 

 sewage maj^ come in contact with them are 

 dangerous if eaten raw. 



the changings which underlie all exanii)les 

 of the process into those — 



1. Of the thing or process, commonly 

 called inventions. 



2. Of the apparatus and methods used. 



3. Of the rcAvards to the inventor. 



4. Of the intellectual activities involved. 



5. Ofsocietj'. 



Each one of these has undergone an evo- 

 lution or elaboration, from monorganism to 

 polyorganism, from simj^licitj' to complexity, 

 from individualism to cooperation, from use 

 to comfort, and so on. This statement needs 

 no extended proof; the roller mill is the de- 

 scendant of the metals, machinerj' springs 

 from tools, the device beneficial only to its 

 originator becomes the world-embracing 

 and world-blessing invention; the happy 

 thought of one person at last comes to be 

 the beneficent result of an endowed and 

 perennial cooperation, a perpetual reposi- 

 tory of invention renewed constantly by 

 the removal of the senescent and the intro- 

 duction of new and trained minds as in a 

 university. 



Now it requires great patience to get to- 

 gether the material evidence of this unfold- 

 ing or evolution. The mental jirocesses are 

 no longer in sight. The nearest approach 

 to them are the makeshifts of savages, and 

 their minds are almost a sealed book. It 

 has therefore occurred to the %ATiter that 

 among the questions proposed to those who 

 are collating information relating to the 

 psj'chic groAAth of childi-en there should be 

 a short series respecting the unfolding of the 

 inventive facultj- or pi-ocess, the finding out 

 originally how to overcome new difficulties 

 or surmounting old ones in new ways. 



O. T. Mason. 



THE EVOLUTION OF INVENTION. 

 In a recent study that I have made on 

 the evolution of invention I have divided 



SCIENTIFIC LITEEATUEE. 

 Popular Lectures and Addresses. — Vol. II., 

 Geology and General Physics. — Lord Kel- 

 vin. — Macmillan & Co., New York and 

 London. Pp. 599. Price $2.00. 



