Less than eighty years have passed since, as a consequence of the French Revolution, the principle of liberty was disseminated among the peoples of Europe and the countries of Europe adopted constitutional forms of government. Of these countries, Austria retained its emperor but twenty years ago adopted a constitutional system, and for the past ten years even the autocratic tsar of Russia has sought to grant his people some kinds of freedom. European civilisation derives from such reforms, some of them superficial, others profound. Its finest fruits have been the products of the industrial arts, and profits have poured forth constantly from those sources. As we travelled through America, Britain and France, and through the rest of the European continent, we observed, in the great towns and cities, such competition in manufacturing and such effort in promoting trade that all day long we heard the rumble of machines and at night we saw the heavens scorched by flames. In each city we visited, thanks to the generosity of manufacturing companies, we were allowed to observe the processes first-hand. However, we saw no more than one or two out of hundreds and thousands, and those which we saw were always the largest and most flourishing enterprises in each country. How could these have sufficed to give a complete picture of manufacturing in the continent as a whole? Fortunately, we happened to be in Europe when the Universal Exposition was held in Austria, and a visit to it allowed us both to re-consider what we had already seen and to study various products and processes we had not seen before.