.,,,. ,-^ ,...,«.. ^tf s»j-«^T-^,-.T\f^-T' -"-^ .-•^■.- ■■,.;>, ..■•■•t>-ni-.-tJj I ..^ .^. ■4 4- rAiii'.Hi^ii^Mit^Wf^o^i^^-'-^'^ >" ■ '^.•.•--.-^flvt^i'^ '''5*:<>«r»;'»-'.','ypt<, ;.'. D UKE UNIVERSIT Y LIBRARY The Glenn Negley Collection of Utopian Literature ANNO DOMINI 2 7 1- Digitized by tine Internet Archive in 2010 with funding from Duke University Libraries http://www.archive.org/details/annodomini207100hart ANNO DOMIN I 2 7 1. ^ranslattb from t§£ ^^ntcij (iitJrigmal, WITH PREFACE AND ADDITIONAL EXPLANATORY NOTES, Dr. Alex. V. W. BIKKERS. LONDON : WILLIAM TEGG, Pancras Lane, Cheapside. 1871. Watson and Hazell, Printers London and Aylesbtiry. ■K/^ » » am TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE The late Artemus Ward was in the habit of quoting — either from his own or another man's store of wit — "Never prophesy unless you know for certain." There is, however, a par- ticular mode of foretelling which is neither dan- gerous nor venturesome ; that process, namely, by which inferences are being drawn from analogous things that have come to pass, and applied to the contemplation of future events. The little book here presented in an English translation may serve as an illustration in point. It was originally published in the Dutch language, the author hiding himself VI TRANSLATOR S PREFACE. behind the nom de plunfie of Dr. Dioscorides. If success goes for anything — and who is prepared to say what it does not go for — we launch it in its new form with more than sufficient confidence. Even within the narrow geographical limits of the Netherlands it has rapidly passed through three editions, and a German scholar has deemed it not unworthy of a translation in his native tongue. The present publication is more and at the same time less than a translation; more, because it has been prepared for a different class of readers than it was originally intended for ; less, because in some instances, and at one point especially, we thought we had some reason to apply the pruning-knife to obnoxious excrescences, as no doubt they would have proved in a new soil. The foot-notes have either been added with a view to ensure a perfect understanding on the part of the TRANSLATORS PREFACE. vii reader, or to secure for the little work as wide a circulation as possible. So far with regard to its form, object, and origin. There are the boundaries of our province. A. V. W. B. London^ 1871. TABLE OF CONTENTS. ALEUTIC TIME DISTRIBUTION-OF-WARM-AIR SOCIETY VERRE SANS FIN . AGE OF ALUMINIUM HELIOCHROMES ENERGEIATHECS NATIONAL LIBRARY NINETEENTH-CENTURY BOOKS COMPULSORY EDUCATION GENEALOGICAL MUSEUM SOLAR LIGHT THE TELEPHON .... GENERAL BALLOON COMPANY . TRAVELLING DIALECT NO MORE WAR .... FREE TRADE ; UNIVERSAL LOCOMOTION MODERN TELESCOPES CHANNEL BRIDGE .... NORTH HOLLAND SUBMERGED PAGE 7 10 11 14 22 31 32 34 39 43 47 51 58 67 69 73 76 78 79 TABLE OF CONTENTS. UNIVERSITY EDUCATION . LOSS OF DUTCH COLONIES RAILWAY NETS .... GEOGRAPHICAL CHANGES IN EUROPE ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATORIES CALCULATORIA TIN MINES IN THE MOON UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE . ANTI 1-2 LEAGUE . woman's RIGHTS . THE NEW ZEALAND OF THE FUTURE PAGE 88 94 100 102 104 105 107 111 112 115 121 ANNO DOMINI 2071. When comparing the present condition of society with that of past centuries the ques- tion naturally arises, what will the future be ? Will the same progress which, in our own times especially, has been of such vast dimen- sions, and manifested itself in so many direc- tions, continue to he 'progressive ? And if so — for who could think of reaction, since the art of printing has guarded against any fuiTow of the human mind being ever effaced — where is to be the ultimate goal of the progress of our successors ? Where are we to look for the fruits of those innumerable germs which the present generation is sowing for the benefit of those that will come after them ? 1 2 ANNO DOMINI 2071. These, and similar other questions, occupied my mind when, seated one afternoon in my comfortable arm-chair, I allowed my thoughts freely to wander amid the manes of those that preceded us. I thought of our own Musschen- broek, Gravesande, Huyghens, and Stevin, and of what would be their surprise were ^they to reappear on this earth, and gaze upon the marvellous works of modern machinery; I passed in review a Newton and Galileo, with so many others, founders of an edifice which they themselves would not now recognise. I thought of steam engines and electric tele- graphs, of railways and steamboats, of moun- tain tunnels and suspension bridges, of photo- graphy and gasworks, of the amazing strides lately made by chemistry, of telescopes and microscopes, of diving bells and aeronautics ; aye, and of a hundred other things, which, in motley array, wildly crossed my mind, though all corresponding in this that they loudly proclaimed the vast and enormous difference between the present and the past. The line ANNO DOMINI 207l. 3 of demarcation between the one and the other revealed itself still more clearly to me as my thoughts carried me further back into the past and the ghost of Roger Bacon seemed to rise before my imagination. This thirteenth-century child was a scholar who surpassed all his con- temporaries in sound judgment and knowledge of natural science ; alas 1 his fate was the ordinary one in store for all those whose light shone above that of others in those darkest of ages. He was accused of witchcraft, and cast into a dungeon, there doomed to sigh for ten weary years, after which, as the rumour goes, he died in his prison. The memory of that illustrious man called to my mind some passages of his writings, from which it will be seen how he, as if endowed with the seer's gift, did actually foretell, some six hundred years ago, that which since, and chiefly in our own time, has become an array of realities. For example : " It is possible," says he, " to construct spy- ing-glasses by which the most distant objects 4 ANNO DOMINI 2071. can be drawn near to us, so that we shall be able to read the most minute writing at an almost incredible distance, to see all kinds of diminutive objects, and to make the stars appear wherever we choose." ***** " We might make waggons that could move along with great velocity, and without being drawn by animals." ***** " Similar other machines ntight be had, as, for example, bridges without pillars or supports of any kind." ***** "There might be contrivances for the pur- pose of navigation without navigators, so that the greatest vessels would be handled by one single man, and at the same time move onward with greater speed than those with numerous crews."* * For the original of these passages we refer the scholar to that admirable letter of Bacon's, De mirahile potestate artis et naturaey etc., which ap- ANNO DOMINI 2071. 5 As I pondered over such remarkable obser- vations as those, I sank into absolute reverie ; all surrounding objects seemed gradually to disappear from my sight, until I got into that peculiar condition in which, while everything material about us is at rest and passive, the mind, on the contrary, proves uncommonly active and alert. I felt myself suddenly in the midst of an immense city ; where I did not know, but about me I saw a vast square, and in it a stately edifice with a lofty tower, on which I fancied I read the following inscription : A.D. 2071. January 1st. I could scarcely believe my own eyes, and peared first of all in the work of Claudius Celestinus, De his quae mundo mirahiJitcr cveniunf, Lutctiae Parisiorum, 1542. Bacon's description of a flying macliine, of which we read in the same document, shows, however, that he too, in his philosophical visions, was apt to transgress the line of the possi- bilities. 6 ANNO DOMINI 2071. must have approached the tower with looks highly expressive of curiosity and amazement; for an elderly gentleman, accompanied by a young lady, stepped forward to speak to me. " I see, sir, that you are a stranger in Lon- dinia; if any information could be of service to you " These kind words caused me to stop ; I looked at the man who stood before me, and was at once struck and impressed by his thoughtful and noble features. Nor was I slow in recognising him. He was the very man with whom I had been for some time past engaged in my thoughts. " You are Eoger Bacon," said I. "To be sure!" was his reply; "at the same time allow me the pleasure of introducing you to this young lady friend of mine, Miss Phantasia." I happened to be in that frame of mind to which one might apply the Horatian Qiil mirari. Nothing of what I saw surprised me, not even the appearance in the flesh of a man like Bacon, who had taken his departure ANNO DOMINI 2071. 7 from our planet some five hundred years ago. I therefore simply accepted his obliging offer, and began by asking for an explanation of the figures and words on the tower. " On yonder tower, over the clock-face ? " answered he. " Why, that means simply this, that we have arrived at the first day of the new year 2071." " But what is the time ? I see so many hands and figures on the clock, that I am per- fectly bewildered." " What kind of time is it you want to know ? " asked he in reply ; '' true, mean, or Aleutic Time ? for each of these has its own set of hands and figures." " I know full well," said I, " what true time is, also what is understood by mean time, but what on earth is meant by aleutic time V " I will soon explain," spoke my obliging guide. "Since the whole globe has been encircled by one large net of telegraph lines, 8 ANNO DOMINI 2071. and wire messages * whether east or westward bound, do the whole round of our planet in a single moment, it has been found necessary to adopt a kind of time that would apply to any spot of the earth ; for by some such contriv- ance alone was it possible to avoid a confusion that would have been fatal in many cases, more especially in those of commercial trans- actions, when the knowledge of the right time is an object of no mean consideration. By mutual agreement the several nations therefore ■^ At the end of the nineteenth century the Saxon element had almost entirely disappeared from the English tongue ; even the most intelligible Norman words had had to give way to the most miraculous novelties in the shape of bad Greek and Latin compounds. At the revival of the genuine national dialect all such abominable mongrels as telegram, bicycle, velocipede, etc., were expelled from decent conversation. A telegram became a ivire-message ; a bicycle a two-wheel; a velocipede a swift-foot; post- mortem examinations went by the name of after-death examinations ; and as the language gained in nation- ality, the nation's mind grew in clearness. The change was a change for the better. T. ANNO DOMINI 2071. 9 selected the largest of the Aleutic islands, by- way of a neutral point or centre. When the sun rises on the east coast of that island, then begins the world-day. Nor has the selection of the neutral point been in any way an arbi- trary one ; for east and west of the meridian which passes over that island are to be found those very latitudes where the confusion of time was formerly at its height; and for this reason, that according to their discovery having been accomplished either from Europe in easterly direction round Africa, or westward round America, one whole day had been lost or gained. Now the consequence of this was, that in the islands of these latitudes the in- habitants of the eastern coasts and those dwelling in the west differed four-and-twenty hours in their calculations of time, owing to the circumstance that they belonged to, or were descended from, the one or the other ancient colony. The adoption of an Aleutic time has put a stop to any such confusion." Having thus endeavoured to satisfy my 10 ANNO DOMINI 2071. curiosity, my companion went on to say : " Do come along with us ; we shall have plenty of opportunity to show you other matters of interest in the city of Londinia." '"Londinia ? Is that the same as London ?" " Not quite ; ancient London formed but a small portion of the present city of Londinia. The latter occupies a considerable part of the south-east of England, and has a population of something like twelve millions." As we continued our tour, I chanced to hit upon the trivial remark that we had "very mild weather indeed, considering the time of the year." " You are mistaken," Bacon said ; " on the contrary, it is bitterly cold ; only you forget that we are in town. Just feel the heat of the current of air which rises from the sieve-like plate on which you are walking, and you will doubtless agree with me that the DlSTRIBUTION-OF-WAKM-Am SOCIETY is by no means unfaithful to its obligations. ANNO DOMINI 2071. 11 Then look above you. Had the distribution been insufficient, we should still see the glass roof over our heads covered with this morn- ing's snow." I looked up, and saw that the street was vaulted over with glass plates of considerable length and width, joined together by thin bars, with here and there an aperture as the means of ventilation. "I apprehend, then, that we are in a so- called arcade ? " " Well, yes ; if you mean to apply that name to the greater part of our city. That which in the nineteenth century was only to be found occasionally in the great towns of Europe, has become a regular institution in the twenty- lirst, owing to the manufacture of our inex- pensive Verre sans Fin, or 'Endless Glass,' as our people generally call it." " I have no doubt that this must be a con- 12 ANNO DOMINI 2071. siderable improvement on your town-life throughout winter; but in summer-time I should say this must be intolerably hot." " Not at all ; the same society which under- takes the supply of warm air in winter also provides for us during the summer months a cooling draught. Nothing can be easier than that. You are doubtless aware of ice having been manufactured in the middle of summer for at least a couple of centuries. During the warm season the air is made to pass over the glass vault above us before it reaches the pavement through the sieve-like plate, and if the warm-air inspectors properly attend to their duties, there is scarcely any difference in our temperature throughout the year." " Then probably you warm your houses by a similar process, and you never use any stoves or fireplaces now ?" Neither of my companions could help smil- ing at these words, betraying again, as they did, my very old-fashioned notions. Bacon, however, gave me a kindly nod of assent as he ANNO DOMINI 2071. 13 proceeded to explain : " Just as a cold-water bath may be heated at pleasure by opening the hot- water tap, we can warm the air in our apartments by means of a valve, which when opened, not only affords a supply of warm air, but has the additional advantage of producing a most dehghtful refreshing of the atmosphere without any idea of draught." " I really cannot understand," Miss Phan- tasia here remarked, " how the people in those barbarous times managed to live amid the smoke and ashes and dust of their horrible fireplaces." "And then their chimneys on fire," added Bacon ; " tliank Fate, we have done with that too. Poor insurance offices, they don't pay half the premium now of what they used to do." " One more question," said I, " before we leave tliis subject. What do you call the metal used for those elegant little bars which connect and suppoiii the roof of glass above us ? Surely they are not of iron, as they would have been in my time ?" 14 ANNO DOMINI 2071. " No," answered my guide; " iron, on account of its greater specific weight, would have been less suitable here than aluminium ; the latter not only corresponds in weight with the glass which it supports, but it also withstands the effects of the atmosphere far better than iron. You will very soon perceive in how many in- stances the new metal has superseded the old one, in additional proof of which I would just mention the fact that the modern antiquarians do not exclusively now speak of the ages of stone, bronze, and iron, but that they have formally recognised the Age of Aluminium, The latter commenced or dates from the second half of the twentieth century, when it was first discovered how to produce aluminium in large quantities from common clay, old tiles, potsherds, china, and earthenware." " Ah ! " said I, " here, then, we have another striking example to teach us that discoveries simply arrived at by purely scientific processes ANNO DOMINI 2071. 15 searched after from the pure motive of increase of knowledge, may often be ultimately produc- tive of the greatest practical use. The same metal which for years after Wohler's discovery continued to be a curiosity — so much so that a few grains of it were preserved among the collections of chemical preparations — has now become universally beneficial, nay, a perfect godsend to those districts where clay, i.e. alu- minium ore, is the onl}^ underground wealth." Following up this idea, at the risk of being ridiculed or, perhaps, reprimanded for my im- pertinent garrulousness, I continued in the following strain : "Think of the phosphorus discovered by Brandt and Kiinckel as early as 1669, yet never getting into common use until the luci- fers, fusees, and ' flamers ' made their appear- ance some two hundred years afterwards ; and of chloroform, now the greatest alleviation of suffering humanity, altliough Dumas, when he first compounded it, did but little dream of its application. Then, again, when Sir Humphry 16 ANNO DOMINI 2071. Davy's remarkable experiments taught him the refrigerating power of metal gas, did this not ultimately lead to the invention of the safety lamp ? and not only has the latter already preserved thousands of human lives, but, more than that, the principle of Davy's invention has actually become the basis upon which all steam-engines are constructed, as well as those by which ice can be made at any time. With regard to the invention of the art of photography, how could it have become a reality, a possibility, without the number of purely scientific discoveries that preceded it ; aye, purely scientific discoveries, such as Porta's so-called camera ohscura* (sixteenth century) ; Scheele's discovery of the discoloration of chloride of silver by light, at which he did not arrive until two * The camera obscura (dark chamber) is a closed space impervious to light. Porta, the inventor here referred to, was a Neapolitan physician. He found that by fixing a double convex lens in the aperture, and placing a white screen in the focus, the image was much brighter and more definite. T. ANNO DOMINI 2071. 17 hundred years afterwards; Courtoiss finding of the 'iodine, 1811 ; or the invention of gun cotton, from which Schonbein learned to make collodion; nor would it be difficult to name several other materials, all found by regular chemical processes, to fix the photographic images, and to make them permanent." Encouraged by my companion's " line of non-intervention," I ventured to continue to speak my thoughts aloud. " If any art more than another," said I, " is calculated to illustrate the fact that the most important discoveries — such as have been most universally brought to bear upon the joint social condition of mankind — have simply re- sulted from the inventions of scientific men who never dreamt of tlie practical application of their discoveries ; if any such thing exists, surely it is the telegraph. Could these magic wires have lurked in the mind of Thales when he found out, now twenty-five centuries ago, that a piece of amber, Avhen rubbed, attracts light bodies, even although it led him to dis- 2 18 ANNO DOMINI 2071. cover the very first of those phenomena, the cause of which must be sought in that mys- terious power which now we call electricity ? Did Galvani think of the telegraphic art when he noticed how the muscles of his frogs con- tracted under the influence of electricity ? * or Volta, when, following up Galvani's experi- ments, he produced the pile that bears his name ? And yet that was, so to speak, the em- bryo of those modern batteries of ours whence proceeds the marvellous action along the wire. Nor is it in any way presumable that Oerstedt ever thought of the application of his discovery to telegraphy, when he first noticed that the * Galvani was a professor of anatomy in the university of Bologna. While engaged in his ana- tomical investigations he observed, aecidently so to say, that when the lumbar nerves of a dead frog were connected with the crural muscles by a metallic circuit, the latter became briskly contracted. The electricity theory drawn by Galvani from his observa- tion of the frog was chiefly opposed by the philosopher likewise here mentioned, Alexander Volta, professor of physics in Pavia. T. ANNO DOMINI 2071. 19 magnetic needle is deflected under the influ- ence of electricity ;* no more than Ai'ago, who found that iron becomes magnetic when an electric current runs along it through a metal wire. " No, no ! " cried I ; " none of those men could ever have foreseen the ultimate beneficial results of these discoveries of natural truths."+ " You are perfectly right in your remarks," said Bacon, as I paused. " From my own per- sonal knowledge of what has come to pass * Oerstedt's discovery, published in the year 1819, was afterwards considerably extended by Ampere and Faraday. It laid, however, the foundation of the recognition by science of the relations between magnetism and electricity. T. t Nor did La Condamine probably suspect that the small bottle of india-rubber, which he brought with him on his return from a scientific tour to America, and passed round as a curiosity to his colleagues of the French academy, was actually filled with a liquid destined to become of the most extensive application to different branches of industry ; aye, a liquid without which tlie submarine telegraph would simply have remained an impossibility up to the present day. 20 ANNO DOMINI 2071. in the field of industry during the last two centuries, I could adduce a good many more examples to show that many of your nine- teenth-century discoveries, which for a long time afterwards merely bore a purely scientific significance or character, have now become prolific sources of material benefit to society at large. Nor does any one now-a-days doubt the importance of pure science ; all govern- ments look upon it as an urgent duty on their part to promote the same wherever they can ; nor is it too anxiously asked whether it does bear, in every instance, immediate results to benefit the material condition of society. More- over, it should not be here forgotten that every man of judgment and discrimination has long since learned to see that the furtherance of material advantages as the aim and end of human endeavours is an idea as narrow in itself as it is unworthy of rational beings. Surely there exists another and infinitely higher mainspring of happiness in the enjoy- ment of gathering such knowledge as will ANNO DOMINI 2071. 21 enable us to perceive the causal connection between the phenomena of nature, or teach us the history of man and all his surroundings. The pursuit of material gratification is essen- tially a thing which man shares with the brute; but our desire to ennoble that which is spiritual or immaterial in us — that is exclusively human; the gratification of such desire is the genuine ' trade-mark ' of real civilization. So much is the bulk of modern society already convinced of these truths, that no government could now-a-days afford to neglect the encourage- ment of scientific pursuit, although the utmost discretion be left to the men of science them- selves with regard to the other question : how and in what direction the extension of know- ledge ought to take place." " Then you hear nothing more now of what was once termed ' oilicial science ' ? " " I really do not know," said Bacon, " what you are alluding to ; but if you use the word ' official ' in its usual acceptation — meaning that which can no longer be doubted, since it 22 ANNO DOMINI 2071. emanated from a responsible government — then, my dear sir, you will pardon me the remark that the expression is anything but felicitous, nay, very shallow indeed. A government may protect, support, and pro- mote science, but it can never stamp it with the seal of genuineness. Such seal is held by truth alone ! " Somewhat ashamed of my apparently an- tiquated notions and childish observations, I walked on in silence until Miss Phantasia all of a sudden exclaimed : " Here we have actu- ally got to the exhibition of Heliochkomes ; oh, do let us go in. I should very much like to know whether they come at all up to those enormous golden placards outside, and whether the highest of the fine arts is here equalled by reality." There was something spiteful in the remarks of the young lady ; and at my question of what was meant by heliochromes, she again ANNO DOMINI 2071. 23 sarcastically replied, " Oh ! nothing but photo- graphs in the natural colours of the objects as pencilled by the sun himself; so, at least, in her extravagant style, says my friend Realia." * " Ha ! " exclaimed I, " the ultimate triumph of the life-long endeavours of tliat plucky Frenchman, De Saint- Victor ! final fruits of the prix Tremont awarded him by the French Academy ! " Bacon looked at me with a smile clearly indicative of his contempt for my helpless ignorance. But all he said was this : " Come inside, please, and you will have something else to see than those rude and perishable experi- ments of Victor of the nineteenth century." We entered, and I could not trust my eyes. The walls of the building were covered with innumerable pictures, landscapes, portraits, and (^eTire-pieces, some of the figures life-size ; and aU these pictures were mere photographs, yet * Such photographs have been produced in Italy since tlie third edition of tliis work appeared in the original text. T. 24 ANNO DOMINI 2071. photographs differing as much from those that I was familiar with as an oil painting does from' a crayon drawing. " Unhappy artists ! poor arts ! " I ex- claimed ; " what have you come to at last ? " But Miss Phantasia appeared to share my delight no more than my sympathy. "Un- happy artists, indeed," was her reply, " if by such honourable name you designate those knights of the brush whose sole aim and end is the faithful imitation of reality ; but do not say poor arts ! They have by no means died out, the worthy successors of Raphael and Corregio, of Rubens and Rembrandt, of those whose calling was not to imitate nature, but to idealise it. And that is the vocation of art. Simple imitation is mere handicraft. And although the monuments and statues of living persons are now mechanically taken from photographs, aye, by a common workman who has no notion of art ; yet have we sculptors who are genuine artists, creators of the ideal." ANNO DOMINI 2071. 25 I quietly accepted the rebuff, and rejoiced to think that all those treasures of art of which my country is so proud had not then, after all, deteriorated in worth ; on the other hand, it was to me a matter of little moment that mediocre talents, incapable of rising above the imitation of reality, had been compelled to exchange the brush for the camera obscura ; and I had no doubt that their productions would thereby gain — in faithfulness. As we left the exhibition building, I saw a huge waggon without any horses, but simply governed by one man, in spite of which it seemed to roll on as easily as possible, and to pull up at pleasure. The waggon was loaded with all sizes of black-coloured cylinders, resembling casks or barrels. I was perfectly aw^re of the numerous successful experiments made long ago in England and elsewhere with the construction of steam-engines destined to run, not along iron rails, but along the ordinar}^ roads. I could not, however, help noticing that this waggon diflered totally from those 26 ANNO DOMINI 2071. old locomobiles, inasmuch as there were no signs of steam about the novelty. Once more I turned to my amiable guide for an explanation ; but although he immediately prepared to comply with my request, still I am obliged to confess that not everything was quite clear to me. I imagine this was partly owing to Bacon's making use of the names of engines and materials with which I was un- famihar ; but this is about what I understood him to say : " So long as we had abundance of coal, the use of steam was found to be amply sufficient for the locomotion of all kinds of engines, waggons, or carriages ; but about the beginning of this century the quantity of coal in the different countries of Europe had decreased to such an extent that the price of the article became by far too high for daily and ordinary use. True, the supply of North America was far from being exhausted ; but, of course, the exportation from thence could not but influence the cost. The same inconvenience further ANNO DOMINI 2071. 27 presented itself with such engines where the locomotive power was produced by continually recurring explosions of a mixture of light-gas and common atmospheric air, since the cost of light-gas naturally increased with the decrease of coal, from which it was principally made. Under these circumstances, recourse was had to the electro-magnetic machines, which could not be used to advantage so long as coals were inexpensive; now, however, these were not only able to compete with the different kinds of steam-engines, but they had this advantage over the latter, that they were entirely free from the danger of explosive boilers. "Nevertheless the electro-magnetic power, with all its improvements, was, and remained, a more expensive one than that formerly pro- duced through coal, and the consequence of this was a decrease in the produce of a great many things which had not only grown into matters of daily necessity, but even into a si?ie quel non of a progressive and lasting civilization. 28 ANNO DOMINI 2071. Then it was, since necessity is the mother of invention, that every one contrived to devise a new means of locomotion, until, after innu- merable unsuccessful experiments, a power was finally arrived at in every way practical and satisfactory, whilst inexhaustible in its sources. It was, namely, this. From time immemorial people knew the two motive forces of flowing water and of streaming air, or wind. When the steam- engines came into use, the latter had gradually superseded the former, partly because rapidly flowing or falling water is not always procura- ble, partly also because the supply of water, as well as its power, depends on the quantities of rain falling in the higher districts. The latter inconvenience, the variability of power, made itself still more strongly felt in the application of the wind. The most absolute quietness in the air may be followed by tempests so danger- ous that the skipper is obliged to furl his sails, and the miller finds it necessary to stop his mill, in order to avoid the most disastrous conse- ANNO DOMINI 2071. 29 quences. Now, when the mill stops, it becomes a useless machine ; for then the work of the men is stopped, and ultimately their wages. Much valuable time is lost, and time is known to be money. Add to this that a steam-engine may be worked unremittingly, so that the manufacturer can be sure to finish any given work in any stipulated time, and it must be clear enough why the powers of water and wind got to be superseded by steam-power, on account of the latter's superior regularity. " Meanwhile it is impossible to overlook the double fact that water and wind may be had for nothing, and that steam involves expense. Moreover, so immense is the quantity of vital or working power of the water falling down on the surface of our earth, and also of the atmospheric currents, that the locomotive power of all existing steam-engines is com- paratively trifling by tlie side of them. One single great cataract has more working power than all the steam-engines of Europe together, and one single thunder-storm may produce 30 ANNO DOMINI 2071. such frightful destruction that it would be ridiculous to measure them by horse-power. " As, therefore, steam became more and more expensive, one naturally looked for means by which, without losing the regularity and sta- bility of steam-power, one might turn to ac- count the forces of wind and falling water. The question had really come to this — how to regularly distribute over a certain period of time a force or power so intensely variable. It seemed as if the working-power of water and wind had to be collected and saved up, so as to have a regular provision of such forces in case of need. In like manner Nature had saved her working-power when she caused the forests to grow, from whence resulted the coal layers. Art had already done the same in preparing gunpowder and other explosive matters. Why, then, could the experiment not be tried in analogous form, namely, by tem- porary imprisonment or detention of that vital power which appeared to be so inexhaustible?" That was the problem. With regard to its ANNO DOMINI 2071. 31 solution I could not well follow the details. All I could learn from Bacon was this, that the black cylinders on the waggon already re- ferred to bore the name of Energeiathecs, force-holders, or energy-preservers ; that one of these set the waggon in motion, whilst the others were to be delivered either at private houses for domestic purposes of hoisting, rais- ing, or carrying ; or to blacksmiths, turners, and other artisans, who wanted motive powers not so extensive as regular. Large manufactories used similar energeiathecs, only of greater power and dimensions. Some of these (in mountainous districts) collected the power of falling water; others (situated in the lower districts) utilised the wind. With regard to the construction, etc., of those cylinders, I could do nothing more than to form a faint idea. Thus I thought of com- pressed air, or some other gas, which, by some strong pressure or other might have been 32 ANNO DOMINI 2071. turned into a liquid or hard substance retain- ing the capability of rendering again its deposit of force on subsequent explosion. But I merely give this hypothesis for what it is worth. While Bacon had thus been endeavouring to enlighten me on a subject which after all I did not profess to understand, we had reached the aluminium railings of an elegant and lofty edifice, bearing the inscription, National Library. Naturally enough, I evinced a strong desire to enter, but Bacon remarked that a visit to such a place would take up a good deal of valuable time, that might be turned to a much more pleasurable and profitable account ; to which Miss Phantasia added that if the gentlemen chose to enter that labyrinth of learning, she, for her part, preferred a walk in the square ; the latter, crossed in all directions by parks and avenues and flower-beds, was moreover crowded with the most exquisite works of ANNO DOMINI 2071. 33 ancient and modem sculptors, living illustra- tions of her former assertion that genuine works of art had not quite died out. As soon as we had arrived at the opposite side of the square, I fuUy understood the wisdom of Bacon's remarks. So far as my eyes reached, I could see a dense cluster of buildings, more resembling a moderately sized town than a depository of literature. " You see, my friend," Bacon said, " it is imperative here to make up your mind what to see, or else our lady friend will be tired of waiting. Which branch of human knowledge do you give the preference to ? " I answered that I was especially interested in works of natural science. " Impossible to think of visiting the build- ings in which all these are deposited. You will have to restrict yourself considerably." "Well, then, let us confine ourselves to zoology." " Too much even for the most cursory glance. It would take us hours to have a 3 34 ANNO DOMINI 2071. mere walk through. Select a sub-section of zoology." " Shall we say the literature of entomology ? " " That won't do either ; you must keep to one single order of insects." ''Well, then, be good enough to select for yourself," said I ; " I'll follow you." We entered one of the buildings. How I was surprised to see the crowd of officers and attendants ! some anxious to direct and assist the still greater mass of visitors ; others busily engaged in making out tickets and extracts for those scholars who had not time enough to do any such manual work themselves. I felt that this was an admirable school for young students, who were here able not only to gather a valuable knowledge of books, but also to form themselves into independent thinkers and writers. Nineteenth-Century Books. As I looked round, I saw one of the junior attendants engaged in gumming the leaves of ANNO DOMINI 2071. 35 a musty book on sheets of collodion, so that one side of the leaf remained at least lesxible. I remembered that this was the way in which the papyrus scrolls of Pompeii and Hercu- laneum were preserved from utter destruction ; but how great was my astonishment to see that the title-page of the musty book bore the year mark 1860, Amsterdam. '' So it is with most of the nineteenth-century books," said Bacon. " Owing to the bleaching properties of chlorine, the paper on which they have been printed got so thin, and mouldy, and worm-eaten, that w^e have but few works of those days now left ; and that is really to be regretted, for many writings of that time were quite worth preserving." I must confess that I was sorry to hear this little bit of information, so distressing to an author of that age; but, of course, I was .silent, and kept on following my guide through rows and rows of apartments, until we arrived at last at a vast ball, literally crammed v.itli books from top to bottom. 1 here W3 paused » 36 ANNO DOMINI 2071. and Bacon turned round to address me. " Now we are among the literature of the two-winged insects ; what work do you wish to see ? " But staring at those thousands of volumes of treatises on gnats and flies, I was too much afraid again to betray my ignorance ; I felt sure I would hit upon some title or other to convince my guide how little I was au courant of the twenty-first century. I limited myself to expressing my gratification at what I had already seen, and added that I would not trespass any further upon the obliging courtesy of my friend. And thus we left the National Library, an institution which they might safely have called the hihliopolis, for indeed it was like a cifij of books. As we passed once more through the front gate on our return, we came across a crowd of men who were about to enter, and whom I judged by their dress and appearance to belong to the class of artizans. I asked Bacon what business had those people there ? ANNO DOMINI 2071. 37 " These are workmen from a neighbouring factory," answered he ; '' they come here in turns for an hour every day, in order to read in yonder room, especially set apart for them, such books as the library committee has judged to be adapted to their wants. Such workmen's libraries exist in all the several quarters of the city, but they are most numerous in the densely populated districts where most factories are to be found." " And are they well frequented ? And do employers allow their workmen to make use of them ? And have they reduced their wages in consequence ? Are they not afraid that their men will thus become too clever, too well educated ? " " With regard to your first two questions— yes ; with regard to the latter two — no. So far as employers are concerned, they have long been taught by experience that, by allowing their employes one hour's relaxation daily, they act in their own interest; that is to say, when such an hour's " holiday " be turned to good 38 ANNO DOMINI 2071. account by the men themselves, by learning something more about their business, and con- tributing to their mental development gene- rally. Besides, what else could have happened, since the continual invention of new ma- chinery has done away with so much of our manual labour ? Naturally enough, a greater demand has set in among the working classes for knowledge and intellectual culture, and this has shown itself in the same proportion as the demand for mere handicraft has sub- sided." " Pity, though," said I, " for those who cannot make use of the library." " Cannot ! " exclaimed my guide ; " but the doors are open to every one." " Except to those who are unable to read, I suppose." " Unable to read ! " retorted Bacon ; " but we are in Europe, my dear sir, not among the Hottentots or Bushmen ! There is not one man or woman amongst us but what can read and write, and even do some arithmetic. ANNO DOMINI 2071. 39 Surely these elements of knowledge are the very first steps on the field of culture, and the sine qua non of a person's being a useful member of society." " Do I then understand from your remarks that you have arrived at last at a system of Compulsory Education ?" " Most decidedly, sir 1 How could you doubt that for a moment ? If parents are obliged to maintain their children with food and the 'necessaries of life/ why should they not be compelled to look after the nurturing of their minds ?" "Why, because the one is a moral obliga- tion, whereas, if I rightly understand you, school education has been made compulsory by the law; and this would appear to me to be an infringement of individual liberty, and of the rights of parents." " You did understand me rightly, so far as the law is concerned; but permit me, sir, to point out to you that you have taken a very 40 ANNO DOMINI 2071. one-sided view of the question of compulsion. You will probably admit that for any properly managed society to exist, every member of the same has to sacrifice a portion of his individual liberty in the interests of the whole of which he forms part. In many cases such sacrifices are borne without any reluctance or opposition ; then, namely, when they are visibly and amply compensated by the many advantages involved in our living in a well-regulated society. With regard to the much-vaunted rights of parents, it should never be lost sight of that the children have their rights as well ; aye, from the moment they enter upon this world ; and one of these rights is that they, bom in civilized society, where ignorance is excluded as a foreign element, must be some- how enabled to appropriate some culture to themselves. If now the parents abuse their rights hy sheer force it becomes the duty of the state to intervene on behalf of the weaker, and, by legal exactions, protect the children in their future welfare. This is, at the same ANNO DOMINI 2071. 41 time, in the interests of the state; for the experience of preceding centuries, when com- pulsory education was not universally recog- nised, has taught us again and again that the jails of Europe were mostly filled with those that could neither read nor write." "One more question permit me. Has not the introduction of compulsory education been accompanied by great, almost insuperable obstacles ?" " That these obstacles were at least not in- superable you may easily gather from the fact that, even in the nineteenth century, the compul- sory measure existed in some parts of Germany, and met with no opposition. Of course, on its ap- plication to other countries, some difficulties had at first to be surmounted; for all novelties meet with opposition somewhere, and all changes are fraught with more or less evil somehow. At first the measure had to be occasionally enforced by the arm of the law, but a very few years sufficed for the legal clause to grow into a popular habit ; and the present generation, 42 ANNO DOMINI 2071. grown up under its beneficent influence, is so deeply convinced of the indispensability of some elementary knowledge in every member of society, that the law might be safely repealed without fear that any school would lose a single pupil."* Bacon's arguments were by no means lost upon me ; nay, it seemed now almost strange and inexplicable to me that in an age when the word " progress " proceeded and was re- echoed from lip to lip, so absolute a sine qua non of progi'ess could have found opponents. But then I remembered at the same time that the word progress admitted of more accepta- * The truth of this remark cannot, I think, be sufficiently impressed upon the even now existing opposition minority in England. Let us have com- pulsory education for three, or even two, generations, and every citizen in the state will be so well educated himself as to know the value of education, and not to deny it his children. The repeal of any law, pro- hibitory or compulsory, can only prove this, that the people for whom the measure was originally framed have risen in the scale of moral and social organization. T. ANNO DOMINI 2071. 43 tions than one. I was about to inquire of Bacon in what sense the term was taken in the twenty-first century, whon my eye fell upon another row of buildings far greater in extent than those constituting the National Library. I was informed by my guide that we had ar- rived at the National Museum. " Here," said he, " are preserved some glorious works of art and all the most remarkable objects of nature." "I easily understand," said I, "that even the ordinary tourist would require a couple of days to gratify his morbid curiosity in this enceinte ; but could I not see some small department at least of all these sightworthy productions ? " " Well," answered Miss Phantasia, " let us see the collection in the Genealogical Museum ; that is my hobby," continued she, as she stopped before one of the edifices. Could I trust my ears ! A young lady's fa- vourite study was genealogy ; old parchments, coats-of-arms, and heraldry her hobbies ! How- 4i4f ANNO DOMINI 2071. ever, I could but follow her, and as I did so, and arrived at our destination, I saw none of her " hobbies " at all ; from one single centre, spreading into innumerable directions and ramifications, I observed a collection of skele- tons ; several of them were indeed old acquaint- ances, such as the elephant, the mammoth, the mastodont, the rhinoceros, the horse, the hippotherium, the anchitherium, the palaeo- therium, the lophiodon, etc., etc.; but a far greater number apparently represented the re- mains of creatures altogether unknown to me; they were arranged, not only according to their general dates of discovery, but also on the basis of organic relationship, so that those forms nearest to each other showed the nearest ap- proach in outward appearance, whereas the extreme forms on both sides bore the most astonishing contrast. It now became clear to me in what sense our fair companion had used the qualification of genealogical, not as referring to the noblei trees of families but to indicate the various ANNO DOMINI 2071. 45 ways by which the animal species that have at one time lived on this earth had developed one from the other. Miss Phantasia appeared to attach great value to this genealogical col- lection; but still I could not help remarking to her that this process of exhibiting the fossils of animal species did by no means prove what it was intended to do ; " for/' said I, " up to the present day there are to be found on our globe, and alive, all sorts of mutually related forms and intermediate varieties. " Ah, well ! " exclaimed the bright-eyed, lively damsel, ** you would think differently if you were acquainted with all the new disco- veries of our age."* * Like the ingenious author of the * * Origin of Species," Miss Phantasia appears to have convinced herself that the time would come when tlie absence or rarity of intermediate species, the great stumbling- block in the grand Darwinian theory, would no longer have to be accounted for negatively by the * ' poorness of our pahiBontalogical collections," and the *'imper- fectness of the genealogical record." Bacon, though apparently familiar with, and not averse to, Mr. 46 ANNO DOMINI 2071. Perfectly agreeing with Miss Phantasia, so far as my ignorance went, I thought I had better drop the subject altogether; still I ven- tured to ask her one more question : Did this museum at the same time contain the ancestors of the human race ? In reply she pointed to a row of veiled figures in the background of the hall ; but as she took my hand to conduct me thither. Bacon stepped between us, and said, " Let not my fair friend tempt you ; you would not be able to see anything in that dark corner over there ; the evening is falling. Go you to your hotel ; we too are homeward bound." Indeed, the evening was falling, but only in the building ; for as soon as we got outside, we found ourselves apparently in broad daylight. I looked about me for gas-flames and lamp- posts, but I could discover nothing of the kind. Darwin's theory of evolution, does not seem to follow the doctrine out in its application to the human race. How many errors remain to be eradicated, even in minds of the highest order, through man's adopted notion that he stands exclusively apart from all his natural surroundings, both in degree and in hind^ ! ANNO DOMINI 2071. 47- At last I looked up to the sky, and then I saw far above the houses a dazzling light, some- what like the sun, spreading his rays in all directions, and several more of these " suns " at considerable distances from one another. " Don't you even know the Solar Light?" Bacon asked. " That surprises me ; for as far back as the second half of the nineteenth cen- tury it was used to illuminate both here and in Paris some of the public edifices. Here it has been generally introduced for some time, past, ever since the streets have been covered with our endless glass." " But then that light is too brilliant and too white; that can't be gas-light." " Nor is it. Gas is now only burnt in those isolated districts where the houses stand far apart from each other, but the central part of the city is chiefly lighted up by the burning of magnesium, and sometimes also by electric light, or any of the numerous lights with '48 ANNO DOMINI 2071. •whicli we are now acquainted. The apparatus, consisting of mirrors and lenses, to collect the light and to make the beams parallel, i.e. equal to sunlight, is the same for all those different kinds of public illumination." " Rather expensive, though," was my sudden reply. " Not as expensive as you think," continued Bacon; "especially not in the case of mag- nesium, for there is an abundance of magne- sium ore in the form of dolemite, etc., from which we get the metal in a way as inexpen- sive as that followed in the preparation of aluminium. To this must be added that the process of burning this metal yields a hard substance, which, by a suitable arrangement of the apparatus, can be collected again and re-reduced to magnesium. Speaking theore- tically, a certain quantity of magnesium is a source of light quite as inexhaustible as the oil-jar of the widow of Sarepta of which we read in the Book of Kings." The more I looked about, the more I arrived ANNO DOMINI 2071. 49 at the liumiliatino' conclusion that we of the boasting nineteentli century — of which I still felt to be a child — were really very much benighted, and I could almost forgive Miss Phantasia for speaking of the Femi-barbarous condition of society in my time. It seemed as if Bacon read my thoughts by my features ; for he continued as follows : " I see that you are desirous of increasing your acquaintance with the present state of affairs. Well, then, if you have been able to put up with our company to-day, you had better join us to-morrow, in our contemplated aerial voyage." How I thrilled Avith inward deliirht at the prospect of such a tour ! Of course I accepted the kind offer without hesitation, although I could not help raising a slight point of doubt with rei^ard to the state of the weather. " Don't you trouble your mind about that," said my amiable guide ; " early this morning I was at the meteorological institute, and I have ascertained that the weather will be fine for a 4 50 ANNO DOMINI 2071. fortnight at all events. The reports from the different meteorological stations are all equally propitious. The sky will be bright, and the wind favourable ; I should be surprised if the aeronaut would have any occasion to use the energeiathecs, which, however, will accompany us as preventatives." We parted company, but not until I had made a note of the spot where it was intended we should meet on the followinor morninof. I hailed one of the numerous cabs on the stand, and ordered the driver to take me to my hotel. As I drove on, I was agreeably surprised not to hear anything of that rattling noise over the pavement, which is alike obnoxious to the person inside the vehicle, to all the passers-by, and to the inmates of houses situated in public thoroughfares. I heard nothing, indeed, but the melodious tinkling of four little bells tied round the horse's neck, and forming a musical chord. I am sorry to say that I was not fortunate enough to discover whether this '' gentle process " was attributable to the ANNO DOMINI 2071. 51 nature of the pavement, or to certain hoops (not iron ones) round the wheels. Probably it was the one as much as the other. The Telephon. Arrived at my hotel, I was at once struck with its extreme quietness, more so as the apartments were all but taken by some thou- sands of travellers. The cause of this, how- ever, I soon discovered on entering the elegant and spacious conversation room. Methought I heard a kind of music, feeble, yet melodious in the extreme. The sound approached as near as possible that of the human voice ; but still the quality was altogether different. Be- sides, no artist, male or female, was to be seen in the room. The only cue that I could get to the m3^stery was through a box of small dimensions ; this instrument was placed on a table right in the centre of the room, and thence the sound appeared to proceed. Taking the affair to be an ordinary musical-box, 52 ANNO DOMINI 2071. worked in the usual way, I gazed with no little contempt and surprise upon the crowd of serious-looking, enthusiastic men and women who had clustered round the table. As soon as the music ceased, I ventured to approach the spectators, at the same time asking one among the crowd for some information with regard to the musical instrument in which they all seemed to be so much interested. Oh the number of pairs of eyes that stared at me, full of amazement, if not of indignation ! At last one of the enthusiasts condescended to break the silence, '' What, sir, a musical instrument ! where did you ever know such tones to proceed from a musical instrument ? Surely, sir, as a gentleman you must have heard of the telephon ?" I now remembered that a machine bearing that name, and answering that description, had been invented as far back as 1861 by a certain Reis ; also that it was based upon the follow- ing law, as discovered and laid down by Page ; namely, that when an electric current passes ANNO DOMINI 2071. 53 through a wire coiled round an iron bar, and the current is continually interrupted, there arises a sound or a tone, the height or depth of which is entirely dependent on the number of vibrations produced by the interruptions of the current, according to their succeeding each other with more or less velocity. This recur- ring to my mind, I now replied that the telephon was indeed not quite unfamiliar to me, in proof of which I went back to the history of its first invention ; I also gave a description of Reis' little instrument, by which the sound of the human voice could be trans- mitted through very great distances ; and finally, I added my surmise or natural con- viction that such an instrument must have been considerably improved upon in the course of more than two centuries * I was happy * It is but fair to say that the apparatus of Leon Scott for registering the vibrations produced }>y the voice in singing had preceded the discovery of Reis. Scott's ' ' phonautograph " is fully described, both in construction and working, in Ganot's Treatise on Physics (Atkinson's translation, p. 211, etc.) T. 54 ANNO DOMINI 2071. to notice the excellent impression visibly pro- duced by my words ; there now arose a tolerably general murmur of "whoever now would have taken the telephon to be so old an affair?" As for me, I was complimented on my antiquarian knowledge, and, thanks to the amiable disposition of the visitors towards me, I was not long in discovering what had been going on. That which every one now was so anxious to explain to me amounted, in a few words, to this. The North-American papers had of late been indulging in the most extravagant terms of praise with regard to a lady singer who, according to the Yankee cri- tics, was possessed of a voice such as no mortal had ever yet heard of, surpassing in compass and quality everything that could be imagined ; a talent whereby all the artists of former ages — if history could be relied on — ladies like Catalani, Malibran, Henriette Sonntag, Jenny Lind, or the Pattis, were really no more in comparison than a cricket to a nightingale. Of course, as might be imagined, these ANNO DOMINI 2071. 55 reports from across the Atlantic had created an immense stir in the musical world of Lon- dinia. From all directions the managers of concerts and operas had been induced to nego- tiate with this marvellous talent, so that it should no lonorer be hidden from the musical inhabitants of Londinia. But, then, all these reports emanated from the States, the fons et origo of humbug ; and, probably taught by ex- perience, the managers had all clubbed together, and, at their joint expense, despatched a tele- gram to the gifted artist, requesting her to allow her marvellous power to be tested by means of the telephon. That would, at all events, enable them to judge of the compass and quality of her voice. To this the lady had consented, and thereupon the managers had hired one of the transatlantic telegraph cables, on which the experiment had been made. As a clear indication of the compass of the voice, I was shown sundry slips of black paper on which could be seen numerous curved white lines; the latter had been traced upon the paper 56 ANNO DOMINI 2071. by the phonautographer standing behind the telephon, and were supposed to mark the musical scales within compass of the lady's voice. An impression of these slips of paper was to appear, on the following morning, in the musical journal, Panharmonia, in order that " the eyes of the inhabitants of Londinia might anticipate the glorious treat in store for the musical ears of the great metropolis." "For," added the editor of the Panharmonia, "all con- noisseurs in music know the meaning of these little waves. Won't they be astonished when they see a tone like this !" Saying this, he pointed with his finger to the very extreme line where the little curves met as near as possible. Of course I was longing to examine the con- struction of the telephon. I was just about to ask one of the gentlemen present to give me some explanation on the subject, when there was a general demand for silence. The Ame- rican lady was to afford us another treat. This time she sang an air from Mozart's Don Giovanni, and I was delighted to find that this ANNO DOMINI 2071. 57 masterpiece of the great maestro was not for- gotten even three centuries after the composer's death. At the close of her examination, the lady was unanimously declared worthy to appear before the critical public of Londinia, and she received what we might term a musical ovation by means of another telephon working in opposite direction. And here the matter was allowed to rest, it being left to the different manao^ers to endeavour to en^ of Widow Placid and her Daughter Rachel. By Harriet Corp. Demy Svo, with 20 Coloured Illustrations, and numerous Diagrams, los. 6d. ASTRONOMY SIMPLIFIED FOR GENE- ral Reading. With numerous and highly important Discoveries in Spectrum Analysis. By J. A. S. Rolwvn, Author of " A Treatise on the Structure of Matter." Imp. 32mo, cloth, 2s. ; gilt edges, 2s. 6d. 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