MAN’S METAL DRESS: THE DEVELOPMENT OF ARMOUR FROM ANCIENT TO MEDIÆVAL TIMES
The way in which man has protected himself against his foes in battle, and the gradual progress and decline of such methods, is shown in these pictures. The first is from the monuments of Nineveh, and shows the earliest form of chain mail. In the second we see the armour of the Roman legionary, while the third shows the heavy accoutrement of a mediæval warrior. A helmet of the same period is also shown.
Means for conveyance are also invented, that difficulties arising from distance may be overcome. At first men carry burdens upon their backs, heads, or shoulders, or in the hand, placing whatever they wish to transport in a utensil—a basket or a piece of cloth—thus producing a coherent whole; later, in order to render conveyance still more convenient, handles are invented. Objects are dragged along the ground, and from an effort to save them from injury the idea of sledges develops. Things that are round enough are rolled to their destinations; this leads to the invention of rollers and wheels, materials of required form being brought into combination with rudimentary agents of circular motion, and thus, through a rotary, a horizontal movement is obtained; and so the force of gravity is made use of, consistency of motion procured, and the hindering effect of friction overcome to the greatest possible degree.
Means for carrying inanimate objects once invented, it is not long before they are put to use for the conveyance of man himself; thus methods for the transportation of human beings are discovered in the same manner as the means for the carriage of goods.
Man’s First Boats
In primitive times transportation by water is employed to a far greater extent than by land. Man learns how to swim in the same way as other animals do, by discovering how to repress his struggles, transforming them into definite, regular movements. The sight of objects afloat must, through unconscious analysis—experience—have taught men to make light, water-tight structures for the conveyance of goods upon water, and, later, for the use of man himself. The pole by which the first raft was pushed along developed into the rudder. Kayaks and canoes were built of wood, of bark, and of hides. In this connection, moreover, an epoch-marking invention was that of cloths in which to catch the wind—sails; and this, too, was a result of observation and experience. Man had known the effect of the wind upon fluttering cloth, to his loss, long enough before he hit upon the idea of employing it to his advantage. Finally he learned that by adjusting the sails he might make use of winds blowing from any direction.
MAN’S METAL DRESS: THE GRADUAL MODIFICATION OF ARMOUR IN MODERN TIMES
The invention of gunpowder and firearms rendered the protection of armour useless, and by the sixteenth century it had been greatly modified. The first of these pictures shows the slight armour worn by James II. The second is a suit of Japanese armour, discarded in our own time; while the last is a portrait of a present day Life-guardsman, whose cuirass is more ornamental than useful.