In 1830, the first steel pen was made and the first iron steamship was built. One year before this, the first lucifer match was made; and nine years afterwards, envelopes were first used. In 1826, the first horse-railroad was built, and kerosene oil was first used for lighting purposes. In 1846, Howe’s sewing-machine was given to the public, but it took eight years’ hard work to convince the public that the new invention was of any great value. Many other sewing-machines have since come into use, but all are modifications of Howe’s. They have revolutionized the whole “make up” of men’s and women’s wearing apparel, not to mention horse harness, upholstering, and all departments of life where fine stitching is called for. The delicate services of this wonderful machine have increased certain industries a thousandfold, though at first, like all other improved methods of work, it was supposed to be the destroyer of these industries, and to bring untold miseries upon all who lived by the needle. The manufacture of these machines, sales, and repairs have employed tens of thousands of people, and added millions to the wealth of a nation; to say nothing of the comfort and betterment of the life of the people. Agriculture has made great strides during the last half century by reason of the increasing use of scientific methods. Rotation of crops and artificial manures have preserved the land from exhaustion and maintained it at a high power of production. Machinery also has added largely to the facilities for its cultivation. Ploughing, sowing, reaping, threshing, and other machines have made it possible for the farmer of comparatively limited means to produce immense quantities of food for man and beast, so that starvation in almost any part of the globe can be averted by the over-production in other parts. In 1855, at a great trial of threshing-, reaping-, and mowing-machines in France, the American machines gained a complete victory. In 1862, the United States Government established the Agricultural Department at Washington. Agricultural societies and colleges, in many of the States, have greatly advanced this most important department of the nation’s strength. It is as true now as when the wise Solomon spoke it, “The profit of the earth is for all: the king himself is served by the field.” A better knowledge of agricultural chemistry has contributed much to the more profitable uses of the soil. The sanitary conditions of living have greatly improved, especially among the poor, during the last half-century. Underground sewerage in cities, drainage of swampy grounds, removal of the cesspool which often poisoned the well which supplied the family for cooking and drinking, and the introduction of pure water in abundance, cleaner streets, and better homes for the working-classes, have lessened the death rate about one half. From McKenzie we learn that “In 1842, the average length of life among the gentry and professional men of London,