usand and ten thousand
miles, respectively, so that we study their physical geography and
topography; and we have good maps of Jupiter, and even of Saturn,
notwithstanding their distance and atmospheric envelopes, and we are
able to see the disks of third-magnitude stars.

"It seems as if, when we wish any particular discovery or invention, in
whatever field, we had but to turn our efforts in its direction to
obtain our desire. We seem, in fact, to have awakened in the scenes of
the Arabian Nights; yet the mysterious genius which we control, and
which dims Aladdin's lamp, is the gift of no fairy godmother sustained
by the haze of dreams, but shines as the child of science with fadeless
and growing splendour, and may yet bring us and our little planet much
closer to God.

"We should indeed be happy, living as we do at this apex of attained
civilization, with the boundless possibilities of the future unfolding
before us, on the horizon of which we may fairly be said to stand.

"We are freed from the rattling granite pavement of only a century ago,
which made the occupant of an omnibus feel like a fly inside of a drum;
from the domination of our local politics by ignorant foreigners; and
from country roads that either filled the eyes, lungs, and hair of the
unfortunates travelling upon them with dust, or, resembling ploughed
and fertilized fields, saturated and plastered them with mud. These
miseries, together with sea-sickness in ocean travelling, are forever
passed, and we feel that 'Excelsior!' is indeed our motto. Our new and
increasing sources of power have so stimulated production and
manufacturing that poverty or want is scarcely known; while the
development of the popular demand, as a result of the supplied need, is
so great that there is no visible limit to the diversification of
industry or the possibilities of the arts.

"It may seem strange to some that apparently so disproportionate a
number of inventions have been made in the last century. There are
several reasons. Since every discovery or advance in knowledge
increases our chance of obtaining more, it becomes cumulative, and our
progress is in geometric instead of arithmetical ratio. Public
interest and general appreciation of the value of time have also
effectively assisted progress. At the beginning of each year the
President, the Governors of the States, and the Mayors of cities
publish a prospectus of the great improvements needed, contemplat