Genre:

Essay, Drollery, Serial

Subjects:

Domestic Economy, Invention, Discovery, Steam-power, Nationalism

    Offers an eccentric account of the invention of scissors. Notes that Flavius Josephus claimed that 'many centuries came and went after the needle had penetrated domestic life' and that '"the glittering forfex", like the discovery of steam, and printing, and portable soup, and pomatum, has been claimed by various nations, many eras, and different individuals', although it is difficult to determine 'with any approach to mathematical accuracy' who deserves 'a niche in the Temple of Fame'. Punningly identifies many English candidates for the title of the inventor of scissors, including Richard Steele and John B Holroyd (1st Earl of Sheffield).