Excerpt from The Romance of Modern Exploration: With Interesting Descriptions in Non-Technical Language of Wonderful Machinery and Mechanical Devices and Marvellously Delicate Scientific Instruments, &C., &C A second great step in advance was the employment of machinery, which, when once fashioned by hand, saved an enormous amount of time and trouble - the pump, the blowing bellows, the spinning-wheel, the loom. But all had to be operated by human effort, sometimes replaced by animal power. With the advent Of the steam-engine all industry bounded forward again. First harnessed by Watt, Giant Steam has become a commercial and political power. Everywhere, in mill and factory, locomotive, ship, it has increased the products which lend ease and comfort to modern life; is the great ally of invention, and the ultimate agent for transporting men and material from one point on the earth's surface to another. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.