JF Ptak Science Books Quick Post
The writer of this poem to the inconveniences to the status of old technology didn't much care for modern additions in the history of applied science. The age of electricity had really just begun, and the telephone (by Bell in 1876) and phonograph (by Edison in 1877) mentioned in the complaint were just each a few years old, as was the electric light, which according to the Old Schoolman may very well give rise to some disease yet unknown of the eyes. At the end of the day the writer prefers to "...stand by the old/though their sheen by comparison suffers" which I guess is fine, so long as they didn't need anything that the new-tech could provide.
[Source: Punch, or the London Chiarivari, December 8, 1878.]
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