There are other conjectures of the discovery of fire, but they are purely conjectures. Fire may have been known from the earliest ages, through volcanic eruptions and streams of lava.
People who lived far away from volcanos may have discovered it from the spontaneous combustion of wood after hot and dry summers, or of masses of weeds and rubbish thrown together, and forming peculiar chemical combinations. It is possible that other people may have discovered fire by means of flint, or they may have obtained it by rubbing two pieces of dried wood against each other, according to the practice of the present day among many savage people.
At any rate, it is probable that the discovery of fire led to that of metals. Fires built against certain rocks may have calcined them, and caused the metals which they contained to be fused together. By some it is thought that the first metal discovered was gold, which existed in the sands of the streams, and would naturally attract attention by its shining appearance.
Even if gold were the earliest discovery, it exercised no great influence on the civilization of the human race; but it was otherwise with the discovery of the commoner metals. From the time these were known, the human race made rapid progress, and written history began with them.
The discovery of copper and tin preceded that of bronze, which is an alloy of these two metals. Copper may have been discovered in its natural state, or in combination with other substances, which could easily be removed by the action of fire. The metal was soft and easily fashioned, but there are many purposes which it could not be made to answer. The localities where this metal was first discovered are not positively known. Some contend that it came from India, while others give credit to that part of England known at the present time as Cornwall.
THE AGE OF BRONZE.
The alloy of copper and tin for the formation of bronze grew into very rapid use, and it was made of various degrees of hardness, according to the purpose for which it was intended. Wedges, knives, axes, saws, fish-hooks, ploughshares, picks, and a thousand other implements for the uses of peace or of war, were made of bronze. It could be melted and cast in moulds, or it could be hammered and fashioned at the will of the smith. With bronze the art of moulding began. Bronze was used for money. It was cast into utensils for kitchens, and parlors, and other apartments of dwellings. It was fashioned into statuary, and sometimes into statuary of a very vulgar character. Weapons were made of it, such as the heads of arrows, lances, and javelins, swords, shields, and helmets; while it was useful in peace, it was likewise useful in war. A French writer has said, “The art of killing one another will advance at the same time as all the other arts.”
Lead, silver, and quicksilver were discovered about the same time as copper. A long period may have elapsed after the discovery of bronze before that of iron. Doubtless this was in a great measure because bronze supplied all the requirements of the arts of peace as well as of war, and would naturally precede iron, because it was more readily and easily worked. The reduction of iron ore has always been a delicate process, and is attended with more or less difficulty. A strong current of air was required to give sufficient heat to melt the iron. It is quite likely that the first blast furnace was made from the hollow trunk of a tree containing a piston, moving up and down like that of an ordinary pump. This method is still in use among the Malays and the African negroes. While the Polynesians are still in the stone period, the Malays and negroes are just entering the first cycle of the iron period.
Some of the philosophers suggest that this is by the desire of the Ruler of the universe, in order to guide the civilized man of to-day in the study of the early history of his race.
THE AGE OF IRON.