al
Cain, an early worker in metals, not only the methods of producing fire,
but also the uses to which fire could be applied, must have been well
understood. Imagine the astonishment of our ancestors when they first
saw fire! Possibly, the first sight of this wonderful "element"
vouchsafed to mortals was a burning mountain, or something of that kind.
One is scarcely astonished that there should have been in those early
times a number of people who were professed fire-worshippers. No wonder,
I say, that fire should have been regarded with intense reverence. It
constituted an essential part of early sacrificial worship. Some of my
young friends, too, may remember how in ancient Rome there was a special
order (called the order of the Vestal Virgins), whose duty it was to
preserve the sacred fire, which if once extinguished, it was thought
would bring ruin and destruction upon their city.

[Illustration: Fig. 1.]

How did our ancestors, think you, obtain fire in those early times? I
suggested a burning mountain as a source of fire. You remember, too,
perhaps reading about Prometheus, who stole fire from heaven, bringing
it to earth in a copper rod, which combined act of theft and scientific
experiment made the gods very angry, because they were afraid mortals
might learn as many wonderful things as they knew themselves. History
seems to show that the energetic rubbing together of dry sticks was one
of the earliest methods adopted by our ancestors for producing fire. I
find, for instance, described and pictured by an early author some such
plan as the following:--A thick piece of wood was placed upon the
ground. Into a hole bored in this piece of wood a cone of wood was
fitted. By placing a boy or man on the top of the cone, and whirling him
round, sufficient friction resulted where the two pieces of wood rubbed
one against the other to produce fire. Our artist has modernized the
picture to give you an idea of the operation (Fig. 1). Now instead of
repeating that experiment exactly, I will try to obtain fire by the
friction of wood with wood. I take this piece of boxwood, and having cut
it to a point, rub it briskly on another piece of wood (Fig. 2). If I
employ sufficient energy, I have no doubt I may make it hot enough to
fire tinder. Yes! I have done so, as you see. (I will at once apologize
for the smoke. Unfortunately we cannot generally have fire without
smoke.) Every boy knows that experiment in another form. A boy