Section 21. AN APPARENTLY INSIGNIFICANT FACT[1] OFTEN[2] LEADS TO GREAT RESULTS.
Reading edition
When Galvani[3] discovered that a frog’s leg[4] twitched when placed in contact with different metals, it[5] could scarcely have been imagined that so apparently insignificant a fact would ever lead (App. § 17) to important results. Yet therein lay the germ of[6] the Electric Telegraph, which[7] binds the intelligence of continents together, and probably before many years elapse will[8] “put[9] a girdle round the globe.”—S. Smiles.
Notes in this chapter
Note 1 · Thatsache, f.Note 2 · See S. 5, N. 2, and place the adverb after the verb; ‘result’, Resultat, n.Note 3 · Luigi Galvani, italienischer Anatom, entdeckte 1780 den Galvanismus. ‘When — discovered’, say ‘When Galvani made the discovery’.Note 4 · ‘leg’, here Schenkel, m.; to twitch, in Zuckungen geraten; when placed = when (S. 18, N. 6) the same was (S. 2, N. 1) brought.Note 5 · it — imagined, hätte man sich kaum vorstellen können; ‘that so apparently ... a’, daß eine scheinbar so.Note 6 · [1] Thatsache, f. [2] See S. 5, N. 2, and place the adverb after the verb; ‘result’, Resultat, n. [3] Luigi Galvani, italienischer Anatom, eNote 7 · which — together, welcher die Geister der Kontinente mit einander verbindet; before — elapse = in a few years.Note 8 · See App. § 16.Note 9 · to put a girdle round the globe, einen Gürtel rings um die Erde ziehen. ‘Rings um die Erde zieh’ ich einen Gürtel in viermal zehn Minuten.’