Volume 1

Bibliographical notes on histories of inventions and books of secrets : Six papers read to the Archæological society of Glasgow April 1882-January 1888 / by John Ferguson.

  • Ferguson, John, 1838-1916.
Date:
1895-1915
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Bibliographical notes on histories of inventions and books of secrets : Six papers read to the Archæological society of Glasgow April 1882-January 1888 / by John Ferguson. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    FROM TRANSACTIONS OF THF. ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF GLASGOW. NOTES ON SOME BOOKS OF TECHNICAL RECEIPTS, OR SO-CALLED “SECRETS,” BY JOHN FERGUSON, M.A., Professor of Chemistry in the University of Glasgow. \_Read at a Meeting oj the Society held, at Glasgcnu on soth April, 1882.'] The following notes may serve to some extent as an introduction to a subject wide in itself, and with numerous and important connections. The history of practical invention and of technical progress is one which might well engage the attention of students of anthropology and antiquities, as it throws light on many points connected with the growth of social life and civilization. The desire and the power to turn external objects to his service and convenience are developed to such an extent in man, that, among the many differences between him and other animals, may be reckoned the various arts by which he induces nature to accommodate herself to his wants; among the lower animals one looks in vain for any- thing parallel to the arts of cookery, medicine, metallurgy—to the systematic use of tools, of clothing, of weapons. In ancient times the various handicrafts were monopolies of certain families or castes; in the middle ages the handicraftsmen were too glad to pursue their callings in obscurity; it is only in the most recent years that arts and manufactures have acquired such paramount interest, that the special or technical education of those who are to exercise them has come to be thought of national importance. While, in the days of the Greeks and Romans, the artizan was a despicable if not an almost infamous person, and, in the middle ages, was oppressed by the military and ruling