The four haloids, iodine, bromine, chlorine and fluorine, have long been discovered to be allotropic forms of one and the same simple element; and the relations between carbon and boron, and carbon and silicon, have been traced to such a degree as to render possible the production of new steels and other alloys, comprising a range of properties undreamed of in 1893.
Diamonds are no longer precious stones, since they are electrically deposited in great quantities at trifling expense; as are, of course, all other stones once styled precious.
The dead are disposed of by cremation in gas furnaces, or by dessication; and the establishments for performing these operations, and for disposing of the remains, are under strictest governmental supervision.
The use of explosives—confined to peaceful operations since war has been voted too expensive—has largely increased; and there are numbers of them which, while explosible only by electricity applied in a particular way—thus preventing possibility of accident—have a force which throws into the shade all the dynamite and other explosives of the preceding century.
The clothing worn by men is very little changed from that of the century previous, except in texture and materials. Numberless plants of Mexican and African origin have been brought into use as bearing textile fibres; and improvements in spinning and weaving have enabled the production of fabrics of most surprising fineness and strength. The silk hat, which was the pest of civilized men in the previous century, has given place to a modification of what was once known as the Alpine, save that the new head-covering is lighter and more graceful, and those employed in winter are warmer than the others. In summer, straw has been superseded by paper. The women have decided upon a dress in external appearance not dissimilar to that which for so many centuries made Japanese women so picturesque. Corsets have been abolished, and pictures bearing date of the preceding century, in which the bustle is a prominent feature, have been tabooed as suggestive if not indecent.
The manufacture of paper has so greatly been improved, that sheets are now used of only one-half the thickness formerly rendered necessary for any purpose; and of finish as marvellous as their strength. Leather possesses a suppleness, a resistance to wear, and a beauty and variety of grain, as surprising as desirable, while it is not only waterproof, but permeable by the perspiration of the foot.
Iron and steel may be cast into the thinnest sections and the most complicated forms.
Flour-making is accomplished by air blasts to perform the disintegration of the wheat grains, with electrical separation of the various useful by and waste products. But the new-process bread is made directly from the decorticated wheat berry, without ever grinding it into flour; the baker taking the wheat and doughing it up directly without ferment.
Timber is dyed of any desired color before felling, and bent into any shape by steaming, so that the most complex outlines may be given it without weakening it.
Umbrella covers and other textile objects of irregular shape, formerly made up of gored sections, are now woven in one piece and of any desired fineness. Rugs and seamless carpets an inch thick and of infinite variety in pattern are produced with any wished-for outline, to fit the projections and recesses of the apartment for which they may be ordered.