Dog-Powered Sewing Machine

As our main Scientific Roundups section notes, many Victorian magazines provided monthly summaries of the latest scientific discoveries and inventions. One of the most comprehensive of these columns was "The Gatherer," published monthly in Cassell's Family Magazine. Though this was a British publication, the column looked at discoveries and inventions around the world. Running from 1876 to 1896, this column brings you over 4500 inventions, developments, ideas, theories and discoveries. Its topics include highly technical descriptions of new technologies, discoveries of new flora and fauna, and interesting uses of such "novel" developments as electricity (including the fleeting fad of electronic jewelry!). You'll find inventions that will look very familiar to readers today - and inventions that we should all be glad never got past the starting gate. Click a year below to see what was "hot" in scientific circles!