almost omnipotent fluid has been displayed in inducing the forces
of Nature, and even the sun, to produce it. Before describing
the features of this perfection of civilization, let us review
the steps by which society and the political world reached their
present state.

"At the close of the Franco-Prussian War, in 1871, Continental
Europe entered upon the condition of an armed camp, which lasted
for nearly half a century. The primary cause of this was the
mutual dislike and jealousy of France and Germany, each of which
strove to have a larger and better equipped national defence than
the other. There were also many other causes, as the ambition of
the Russian Czar, supported by his country's vast though
imperfectly developed resources and practically unlimited supply
of men, one phase of which was the constant ferment in the Balkan
Peninsula, and another Russia's schemes for extension in Asia;
another was the general desire for colonies in Africa, in which
one Continental power pretty effectually blocked another, and the
latent distrust inside the Triple Alliance. England, meanwhile,
preserved a wise and profitable neutrality.

"These tremendous sacrifices for armaments, both on land and
water, had far-reaching results, and, as we see it now, were
clouds with silver linings. The demand for hardened steel
projectiles, nickel-steel plates, and light and almost
unbreakable machinery, was a great incentive to improvement in
metallurgy while the necessity for compact and safely carried
ammunition greatly stimulated chemical research, and led to the
discovery of explosives whose powers no obstacle can resist, and
incidentally to other more useful things.