Museum of Wonders, or Curiosities of the World

A cabinet of curiosities in book form, 1890: monsters of the ancient world, wild animals, queer wanderers in the vasty deep, famous inventions and sublime scenery — assembled to astonish the young and, the preface admits, their elders too.

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The Little Fish and the Fisherman: Torpedo

But the sergeant found it impracticable to attach the Torpedo, which was cut adrift, and soon exploded. In 1777, Capt. withstanding this triumph, motives of Bushnell directed a drifting percussion policy, resulting from their sovereignty Torpedo against the frigate Cerberus, lying of the sea, caused Fulton and his new off New London, and it destroyed a weapon to be rejected by the English schooner moored along-side. Similar Tor- government; and he returned to America. pedoes were set adrift on the Delaware, to encounter ultimately a like repulse, but did no harm. Twenty years later although in 1807 he repeated his experi- Robert Fulton made vigorous attempts ment successfully in the harbor of New to bring the new weapon into notice, York. under the name of "Torpedo," then first During the Civil War in the United applied by him. Unsuccessful in France, States, when the confederates had no

THE LAY TORPEDO FOR BLOWING UP SHIPS.
THE LAY TORPEDO FOR BLOWING UP SHIPS.

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