Abstract :
The appearance of a radically novel and really great invention which pioneers a new industry or which effects remarkable results in the service of man, is invariably and inevitably followed, when brought into commercial use, by a host of more or less direct satellite improvements, real or fancied, and supplemental or accessory inventions, to make such use more effective, convenient and profitable. This statement expresses so general a truth that the magnitude of the environment of subsidiary invention thus stimulated, ultimately affords, in some degree at least, a rough measure of the consequence, merit, and usefulness of the primary invention or discovery so supported.
