Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 25.djvu/101

Rh the front as the useful metal. We have already mentioned that the weapons of ancient times were almost exclusively made of bronze. I now say, besides, that the Greeks were acquainted with iron even in the mythological period. Whether any of the Grecian tribes worked in iron of itself is, however, doubtful. The blacksmiths of Crete and Lemnos are described as Phrygians; and we know nothing more exact with reference to the origin of the Bœotians, who worked in iron in the most ancient times. We know, indeed, that they had trade relations with the Phœnicians, but this gives us no light respecting the iron art among them, for the Phœnicians of ancient times excelled only in bronze-working. It is also possible that they may have acquired some knowledge of metal-work in their Asiatic home. Whether this was the case, or the Bœotians learned to work in iron from the islanders, it is certain, first, that this primitive iron industry produced nothing of importance; and, second, that although foreign weapons of steel were known and famous, bronze still prevailed for a long period as the metal of use. Homer, indeed, speaks of an iron that the country-people used in covering their plowshares; he was likewise acquainted with the blue iron of which spear-heads were made, and with the tempering of steel; and excellent weapons of iron are described in the Iliad; but never, to my knowledge, is it mentioned that they knew how to make good steel weapons in Greece. The warriors were almost entirely armed with bronze, rarely with iron, and large articles of iron were very costly. It must not be concluded from this that small, simple vessels requiring neither a handsome shape nor a particular degree of hardness were not made out of native iron. In Homeric times, as I have said, plowshares were shod with a strip of iron of blacksmith's work. The iron reaping-hook came into use afterward. In Hesiod's time iron had gained the predominance over bronze among several tribes. I content myself with giving the history of metal-working in this single nation. With respect to the other European peoples we have a right to suppose that several of the tribes were acquainted with metallurgy in their original homes. They brought the knowledge of metals to Europe, which till then had been acquainted only with stone art. The greater number of the immigrants belonged to a lower grade of civilization, and the masses were still armed with weapons of stone; but among them were a few individuals or families who brought some skill in metal-work from their Asiatic homes. In the course of time the people who lived near these metal-workers obtained metals from them, and the further diffusion of those materials was promoted by trade and war.

The most favorable situation was that of the dwellers on the southern sea, who enjoyed the opportunities afforded by the Phœnicians trade. The ships of this people frequented the Black and Adriatic Seas, and the Spanish and Gallo-Britannic waters. Their goods were carried to the North by the inland routes. Foreign and domestic fabrics and