The progress in material science that created this vast steamboat-and-railway republic of America and spread this precarious British steamship empire over the world produced quite other effects upon the congested nations upon the continent of Europe.

• 物质科学的进步既创造了美国这样一个幅员辽阔、汽船加铁路的共和国，使朝不保夕的大不列颠轮船帝国遍布全世界，同时又对欧洲大陆上人口密集的众多国家产生了完全不同的影响。