l88le] 
The Ethics of Invention. 
723 
produced by lucifer matches would probably outweigh the 
evil, yet there is a balance to he struck ; and in any similar 
case it is, in my opinion at least, the duty of an inventor to 
weigh well both sides, and consider the consequences. 
But I will pass to an instance where, I think, not the 
shadow of a doubt can prevail. A few weeks ago a para- 
graph was going the round of the papers concerning a mar- 
vellous invention said to have been made by an Austrian 
chemist. It was said — and whether truthfully or falsely it 
will for my present purpose matter little — that this man had 
invented a liquid compound which if flung upon a man de- 
prived him instantly of all power and sensation, in which 
state he must remain till death unless restored to animation 
by a second liquid, also discovered by the same genius. I 
will pass over certain elements of improbability which on care- 
ful examination will appear in the story. It was then further 
alleged that the inventor had offered his secret to the Impe- 
rial Government, but instead of the hoped-for reward he had 
been commanded to destroy all memorials and records of his 
process, and to refrain from revealing it under appropriate 
penalties. Now let us suppose such an invention really made 
and revealed : the necessary result would be a perfect carni- 
val of outrage. No man’s life, no woman’s honour, no 
property could be safe. The advantage of such a weapon as 
this fluid would be all on the side of the wrongdoer. 
Meeting any stranger in a lonely place, the only safety 
would be to shoot him down before he came near enough for 
the possible use of this diabolical compound. Suppose a 
respectable citizen walking home in a dark night : instead 
of the “ stand and deliver ” of the old footpad, or the hug 
of the modern garotter, against each of which a safe defence 
is conceivable, he would find himself without any warning 
asphyxiated, and would be plundered at leisure and left to 
die, — die, too, without any marks of violence to arouse sus- 
picion. Or suppose any of my readers sleeping the sleep of 
the just in his own dwelling : a burglar, armed with this 
newest weapon, enters stealthily and bedews the face of the 
sleeper, whose “ heart but once heaves and for ever turns 
chill.” Against all these possible evils, which await nothing 
but the aCtual realisation of such a discovery to be rendered 
horrible realities, there would be but one set-off — the ease 
which such a man provided with this liquid could dispose of 
a tiger, a lion, or a grizzly bear. But this advantage would 
be far too dearly bought, at the price of putting such an 
irresistible weapon into the hands of the criminal class. 
Should any person accidentally come upon such a compound 
