Intelligence in the van : the beginning of the beginning and the end of the end / by Horace Dobell.

  • Dobell, Horace Benge, 1828-1917.
Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Intelligence in the van : the beginning of the beginning and the end of the end / by Horace Dobell. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    16 trivance and Invention. Discovery—which brings to light that which existed before but which was not known—is exercised by every living creature from the lowest to the highest forms, as, for example, in the discovery of food and habitation, and may be placed lowest on the list. Contrivance appears to require a higher mental effort than discovery, and is also seen through the whole of animated nature, as, for example, in their architecture. Neither discovery nor contrivance necessarily involves subjec- tive reasoning, although in their highest development subjective reasoning may be introduced. Contrivance is often mistaken for invention, and even in dictionaries contrivance and inven- tion are stated to be synonyms. No doubt many so-called inventions are no more than skilful contrivances. The essence of contrivance is the planning how to put things together so as to attain some given end. It is when it goes beyond this and introduces something altogether new for the purpose of attaining the end in view that it becomes invention. And—although the border-land between the two may be very difficult to define in a given instance of the lowest form of invention and the highest form of contrivance,— there can be no doubt of the distinction when invention is exercised in its highest forms ; and it is in them that subjective reasoning becomes an essential ingredient. The contrivances of the lower animals have this great distinction from the inventions of man, viz., they are contrived for the use of the one individual contriver, or at most for that of some other individual, taking his place, possessed of the same contriving power; whereas the in- ventions of man are designed for the use of any number of other persons not possessed of the same inventive powers. It has occurred to me that such an invention—that is a machine so invented and constructed—is the analogue of an instinct.* By * - The Patent Automatic Knitting Machine, with ribbing1 attachment, is so simple that it can be worked by the blind. It knits all kinds of articles in wool, cotton, silk and merino—so simple that a child can work it with compara- tive ease ; ten to twelve pairs of socks, or four to six pairs of stockings can be made per day by one person. The manufactories of Birmingham, which hold the first rank in the pin industry, are said to produce about 37,000,000 of pins per day I The machines are so perfect, that they cut wire into pieces of the right length, head these pieces, point them, polish them, sort them out, and stick them into papers all in rr>ws: to such a pitch has our mechanical ingenuity reached! A machine of this kind, so far as pin-making is concerned, appears to have life, so rapid and precise are its movements.—( The World of Wonders.)