Artificial Light | Page 6

enterprise, because
the possibilities of lighting extend into all those activities which make
their appeal to consciousness through the doorway of vision. These
possibilities are limited only by the boundaries of human endeavor and
in the broadest sense extend even beyond them, for light is one of the
most prominent agencies in the scheme of creation. It contributes
largely to the safety, the efficiency, and the happiness of civilized
beings and beyond all it is a powerful civilizing agency.

II
THE ART OF MAKING FIRE
Scattered over the earth at the present time various stages of civilization
are to be found, from the primitive savages to the most highly
cultivated peoples. Although it is possible that there are tribes of lowly
beings on earth to-day unfamiliar with fire or ignorant of its uses,
savages are generally able to make fire. Thus the use of fire may serve
the purpose of distinguishing human beings from the lower animals.
Surely the savage of to-day who is unable to kindle fire or who
possesses a mind as yet insufficiently developed to realize its
possibilities, is quite at the mercy of nature's whims. He lives merely by
animal prowess and differs little in deeds and needs from the beasts of
the jungle. In this imaginary journey to the remote regions beyond the
outskirts of civilization it soon becomes evident that the development
of artificial light may be a fair measure of civilization.
In viewing the development of artificial light it is seen that preceding
the modern electrical age, man depended universally upon burning
material. Obviously, the course of civilization has been highly complex

and cannot be symbolized adequately by the branching tree. From its
obscure beginning far in the impenetrable fog of prehistoric times, it
has branched here and there. These various branches have been
subjected to many different influences, with the result that some
flourished and endured, some retrogressed, some died, some went to
seed and fell to take root and to begin again the upward climb. The
ultimate result is the varied civilization of the present time, a study of
which aids in penetrating the veil that obscures the ages of unrecorded
writing. Likewise, material relics of bygone ages supply some threads
of the story of human progress and mythology aids in spanning the
misty gap between the earliest ages of man and the period when
historic writings were begun. Throughout these various stages it
becomes manifest that the development of artificial light is associated
with the progress of mankind.
According to a certain myth, Prometheus stole fire from heaven and
brought this blessing to earth. Throughout the mythologies of various
races, fire and, as a consequence, light have been associated with
divinity. They have been subjects of worship perhaps more generally
than anything else, and these early impressions have survived in the
ceremonial uses of light and fire even to the present time. The origin of
fire as represented in any of the myths of the superstitious beings of
early ages is as suitable as any other, inasmuch as definite knowledge is
unavailable. Active volcanoes, spontaneous combustion, friction,
accidental focusing of the sun's image, and other means may have
introduced primitive beings to fire. A study of savage tribes of the
present age combined with a survey of past history of mythology, of
material relics, and of the absence of lamps or other lighting utensils
leads to the conclusion that the earliest source of light was the wood
fire.
[Illustration: PRIMITIVE FIRE-BASKETS]
[Illustration: CRUDE SPLINTER-HOLDERS]
[Illustration: EARLY OPEN-FLAME OIL AND GREASE LAMPS]
Even to-day the savages of remote lands have not advanced further than

the wood-fire stage, and they may be found kneeling upon the ground
energetically but skilfully rubbing sticks together until the friction
kindles a fire. In using these fire-sticks they convert mechanical energy
into heat energy. This is a fundamental principle of physics, employed
by them as necessity demands, but they are totally ignorant of it as a
scientific law. The things which these savages learn are the result of
accidental discovery. Until man pondered over such simple facts and
coördinated them so that he could extend his knowledge by general
reasoning, his progress could not be rapid. But the sluggish mind of
primitive man is capable of devising improvements, however slowly,
and the art of making fire by means of rubbing fire-sticks gradually
became more refined. Mechanical improvements resulted from
experience, with the consequence that finally one stick was rubbed to
and fro in a groove, or was rapidly twirled between the palms of the
hands while one end was pressed firmly into a hole in a piece of wood.
In the course of a few seconds or a minute, depending upon skill and
other conditions, a fire was obtained. It is interesting to note how
civilized man