Stories of Useful Inventions. Forman Samuel Eagle
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1
Where readers are quite young the Foreword had better be postponed until the stories themselves are read.
2
Mr. Walter Hough of the National Museum, himself a wizard in the art of fire-making, tells me that a blaze cannot be produced simply by rubbing sticks together. All that can be done by rubbing is to make them glow.
1
Where readers are quite young the Foreword had better be postponed until the stories themselves are read.
2
Mr. Walter Hough of the National Museum, himself a wizard in the art of fire-making, tells me that a blaze cannot be produced simply by rubbing sticks together. All that can be done by rubbing is to make them glow.
3
A narrow strip of leather.
4
The ancient Greeks used a burning-glass or – lens for kindling fire. The lens focused the sun's rays upon a substance that would burn easily and set it afire. The burning-glass was not connected in any way with the development of the match.
5
Several of the illustrations in this chapter are reproduced through the courtesy of the Boston Stove Co.
6
Hold the end of a dry towel in a basin of water and watch the water rise in the towel. It rises by capillary action.
7
Light a short piece of candle and place it in a tumbler, and cover the top of the tumbler. The experiment teaches that a flame must have a constant supply of fresh air and will go out if the air is shut off.
8
J. R. Smith, "The Story of Iron and Steel," p. 3.
9
From "Five Black Arts," p. 311.
10
The old forge continued to be used by the side of the blast furnace for centuries, and of course where it was used it was still called a forge. Thus we are told that in Maryland in 1761, there were eight furnaces and ten forges. It is said that as late as twenty-five years ago in certain parts of the Appalachian regions the American mountaineer still worked the little primitive forge to make his iron.
11
It was given the name of