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En Garde, whole no. 17, April 1946
Page 23
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page 23. FORGOTTEN FANTASIES GUEST EDITED By Norman F. Stanley A POOR PROSPECT FOR THE YEAR 1900 The Boston Journal of Chemistry lately gave us a glowing account of the wonders which were to be brought to light ere the year 1900 shall appear as the date of our letters and periodicals. All of our old systems of lighting, heating, and producing power are to be modified, or superseded by different and far superior methods. And yet, in a recent number, the editor gravely tells us that "there is not, nor can there be, any oil or liquid substance devised, suited to household illumination, which is cheaper, safer, or better than well manufactured kerosene of legal standard." The italics are his own. This is from The Manufacturer And Builder, circa 1870. I dunno the exact date, as there's a scrapbooklipping. TM&B had any number of such interesting items. There was a good one on "The New Metal Hydrogenium", which predicted that hydrogen when liquefied would be metallic in appearance, like mercury. This was a popular notion during the last century, before the liquefaction of hydrogen had been accomplished, by association, of course, with the fact that hydrogen behaved something like a metal in its chemical properties. We know now that liquid and solid hydrogen are quite nonmetallic in physical appearance. Ah, here's one that sounds interesting. Manufacturer and Builder for May 1869, describes the original Reis telephone, the pre-Bell gadget which could transmit musical tones, but not articulate speech: "One of the most remarkable recent inventions connected with telegraphy is the telephone, an instrument which transmits directly
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page 23. FORGOTTEN FANTASIES GUEST EDITED By Norman F. Stanley A POOR PROSPECT FOR THE YEAR 1900 The Boston Journal of Chemistry lately gave us a glowing account of the wonders which were to be brought to light ere the year 1900 shall appear as the date of our letters and periodicals. All of our old systems of lighting, heating, and producing power are to be modified, or superseded by different and far superior methods. And yet, in a recent number, the editor gravely tells us that "there is not, nor can there be, any oil or liquid substance devised, suited to household illumination, which is cheaper, safer, or better than well manufactured kerosene of legal standard." The italics are his own. This is from The Manufacturer And Builder, circa 1870. I dunno the exact date, as there's a scrapbooklipping. TM&B had any number of such interesting items. There was a good one on "The New Metal Hydrogenium", which predicted that hydrogen when liquefied would be metallic in appearance, like mercury. This was a popular notion during the last century, before the liquefaction of hydrogen had been accomplished, by association, of course, with the fact that hydrogen behaved something like a metal in its chemical properties. We know now that liquid and solid hydrogen are quite nonmetallic in physical appearance. Ah, here's one that sounds interesting. Manufacturer and Builder for May 1869, describes the original Reis telephone, the pre-Bell gadget which could transmit musical tones, but not articulate speech: "One of the most remarkable recent inventions connected with telegraphy is the telephone, an instrument which transmits directly
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