International Law, is the name given to the rules which govern either the actions of states in their relation to each other or the relations of citizens of different countries. It is a system created by civilized countries during the last three centuries, and its rules are now in use only among civilized peoples. The increasing intercourse between individuals of different nations by commerce and travel gives a growing importance to the interests affected by this branch of law. Each state may establish, alter or abolish its own constitution; discover and settle new countries; extend its navigation or fisheries; improve its revenues, arts, agriculture and commerce; and develop its national resources by all beneficial and lawful means. In order to do this, the attitude of states to one another must be one of mutual confidence. See International Law by Woolsey.
In′terno′de. In seed plants and also in some fern plants the stem exhibits a series of definite joints, at which points the leaves or branches arise. The joints are called the “nodes,” and the more or less elongated portions of the stem which separate the nodes from one another are called the internodes. The length of the internodes determines the distance apart of the leaves, and therefore the growth of internodes is an important factor in the life relations of leaves.
In′tersta′te Com′merce Commis′sion, The, of the U. S., is a body of five members chosen according to the provisions of the interstate commerce act of 1887, with powers to regulate railroad rates, to establish uniform rates, to insist upon the publication of accounts and to inquire into infringements of the act. The Constitution vests the power “to regulate commerce . . . among the several states” in Congress, and the Interstate Commerce Commission has been very efficient in preparing statistics of railroad rates, in leading up to the enforcement of state regulations of these rates and in hindering unjust discriminations against certain parties. It was largely through the Interstate Commerce Commission that the new rate bill of 1907 was brought forward by President Roosevelt's administration. The weak point in the powers of the Interstate Commerce Commission was that it had not been able to enforce its injunctions. This led to the passage in 1906 of a law increasing the powers of the commission.
Inven′tions. In the strict use of this word, to which we shall keep, an invention is a mechanical contrivance discovered through which we may realize our purpose more readily than before. The history of inventions is more important than that of wars. There is first the prehistoric age, when man invented the following instruments of his will. Speech, if we may call that an invention; fire, with the arts of heating, lighting and cooking; tools, the axe, the knife, the plough and such weapons as the bow, the sword and the lance; the means of selecting and improving grains and fruits; the taming and training of domestic animals; the making of pottery; of simple clothes; and of musical instruments; the building of tents and houses of wood or stone; wheeled carts and sleighs, boats, to row and to sail. These are prehistoric inventions, which are found in many parts of the world. In some regions the following inventions had been made before the dawn of history: the smelting, working and hardening of metals, irrigation through dams and canals, waterwheels, glass, bricks, various ways of measuring and, finally, writing, with the making of paper, etc. With the last invention history, of course, begins.
It is remarkable that, when men had learned to write, for thousands of years they practically ceased to invent. Between 4,000 B. C. and 1100 A. D. no invention was made equal in importance to the above, but only improvements in minor details. Ships were made larger, clothes were made richer, but the real activity of man was directed towards the things that writing made possible, viz.: society, based on written law, literature, history, science and philosophy. Writing thus made it possible to build up great fortunes, to found permanent empires and to devote the lifetime of gifted men to the fine arts.
The third period in the history of inventions begins with the invention of the compass by European nations about 1200 A. D., of gunpowder about the same time and of printing about 1450. These had been invented in China long before, but the west discovered them independently and made great use of them, to discover America, to shatter feudalism and to reform the church and free men's minds. Since then the great inventions are the pendulum clock by Huyghens (1657), the steam engine by Watts (1769), the electric motor and dynamo by Faraday (1832), gas lighting by Murdock (1792), vaccination by Jenner (1796), the electric light by Davy (1870), the telephone by Bell (1876), the reaping machine by McCormick (1832), the photograph by Daguerre (1839) and spinning machines by Paul (1738). Other inventions that struck out a new line were those of the microscope and telescope, the application of chemical analysis to every branch of manufacture, the production of steel by cheap processes and the means of making exact measurements. But it is hard to identify these with any one man or time.
The development of these fundamental inventions covers every field of modern life. The compound and turbine engine, applied to railroads and to ships, gasoline engines, screw ships of iron and steel, oil and sugar refining, matches, the cottongin, the circular saw, spring clocks, aniline
