The Sun.
London, England, 1861-09-05 00:00:00

the security of the liberties of the country. From the com-
mencement of iron shipbuilding in 1830 to the present time,
there could only be one opinion among thosebest acquainted
with the subject—viz., that iron must eventually supersede
timber in every form of naval construction. The large ocean
steamers, the Himalaya, the Persia, and the Great Eastern,
abundantly show what can be done with iron, and we have
only to look at the new system of casing ships with armour
plates, to be convinced that we can no longer build Wooden
vessels of war with safety to our naval superiority and the
best interests of the country. I give no opinion as to the
details of the reconstruction of the navy—that is reserved
for another place—but I may state that I am fully persuaded
that the whole of our ships of war must be rebuilt of iron,
and defended with iron armour calculated to resist projec-
tiles of the heaviest description at high velocities. In the
early stages of iron shipbuilding, I believe I was the first
to show, by a long series of experiments, the superiority of
wrought iron over every other description of material in
security and strength, when judiciously applied in the con-
struction of ships of every class. Other considerations, how-
ever, affect the question of vessels of war; and although nu-
merous experiments were made, yet none of the targets were
on a scale sufficient to resist more than a 6-pounder shot.
It was reserved for our scientific neighbours, the French, to
introduce thick iron plates as a defensive armour for ships.
The success which has attended the adoption of this new
system of defence affords the prospect of invulnerable ships
of war, and hence the desire of the Government to remodel
the navy on an entirely new principle of construction, in
order that we may retain its superiority as the great bul-
wark of the nation. A committee has been appointed by the
War. office and the Admiralty for the purpose of carrying
out a scientific investigation on the subject, so as to deter-
mine—first, the best description of material to resist projec-
tiles ; secondly, the best method of fastening and applying
that material to the sides of ships and land fortifications ;
and, lastly, the thickness necessary to resist the different
descriptions of ordnance. It is asserted, probably with
truth, that whatever thickness of plates is adopted for casing
ships, guns will be constructed capable of destroying them.
But their destruction will even then be a work of time, and
I believe, from what I have seen in recent experiments,that
with proper armour it will require, not only the most power-
ful ordnance, but also a great concentration of fire, before
fracture will ensue. If this be the case, a well-constructed
iron ship, covered with sound plates of the proper thick-
ness, firmly attached to its sides, will, for a considerable
time, resist the heaviest guns which can be brought to bear
against it, and be practically shot-proof. But our present
means are inadequate for the production of large masses of
iron, and we trust that, with new tools and machinery, .and
the skill, energy, and perseverance of our manufacturers,
every difficulty will bo overcome, and armour plates pro-
duced which will resist the heaviest existing ordnance.
The rifling of heavy ordnance, the introduction of wrought
iron, and the new principle of construction with strained
hoops, have given to all countries the means of increasing
enormously the destructive power of their ordnance. One
of the results of this introduction of wrought iron, and cor-
rect principles of manufacture, is the reduction of the
weight of the new guns to about two-thirds the weight of
the older cast iron ordnance. Hence follows the facility
with which guns of much greater power can be worked,
while the range and precision of fire are at the same time
increased. But these improvements cannot be confined to
ourselves. Other nations are increasing the power and
range of their artillery in a similar degree, and the energies
of the nation must, therefore, be directed to maintain the
superiority of our navy in armour as well as in armament.
We have already seen a new era in the history of the con-
struction of bridges, resulting from the use of iron; and we
have only to examine those of the tubular form over the
Conway and Menai Straits to be convinced of the durability,
strength, and lightness of tubular constructions applied to
the support of railways or common roads in spans which
ten years ago were considered beyond the reach of human
skill. When it is considered that stone bridges do not ex-
ceed 150 feet in span, nor cast-iron bridges 250 feet, we can
estimate the progress which has been made in crossing
rivers 400 or 500 feet in width, without any support at the
middle of the stream. Even spans greatly in excess of this
may be bridged over with safety provided we do not exceed
1,800 to 2,000 feet, when the structure would be destroyed
by its own weight. It is to the exactitude and accuracy of
our machine tools that our machinery of the present time
ewes its smoothness of motion and certainty of action.
When I first entered this city the whole of the machinery
was executed by hand. There were neither planing, slot-
ting, nor shaping machines, and, with the exception of very
imperfect lathes and a few drills, the preparatory operations
of construction were effected entirely by the hands of the
workmen. Now everything is done by machine tools with
a degree of accuracy which the unaided hand could never
accomplish. The automaton, or self-acting machine tool,
has within itself an almost creative power; in fact, so great
are its powers of adaptation, that there is no operation of
the human hand that it does not imitate. For many of
these improvements the country is indebted to the genius
of our townsmen, Mr. Richard Roberts and Mr. Joseph
Whitworth. The importance of these constructive ma-
chines is, moreover, strikingly exemplified in the Govern-
ment works at Woolwich and EnfieldLock, chiefly arranged
under the direction of Mr. Anderson, the present inspec-
tor of machinery, to whose skill and ingenuity the country
is greatly indebted for the efficient state of those great ar-
senals. Among the changes which have largely contributed
to the comfort and enjoyment of life are the improvements
in the sanitary condition of towns. These belong probably
to the province of social rather than mechanical science;
but I cannot omit to notice some of the great works that
have of late years been constructed for the supply of water
and for the drainage of towns. In former days 10 gallons
of water to each person per day was considered an ample
allowance. Now 30 gallons is much nearer the rate of
consumption. I may instance the water-works of this city
and of Liverpool, each of which yield a supply of from 20
to 30 gallons of water to each inhabitant. In the former
case the water is collected from the Cheshire and Derby-
shire hills, and, after being conveyed in tunnels and aque-
ducts a distance of 10 miles to a reservoir, where it is
strained and purified, it is ultimately taken a further dist
tance of eight miles in pipes, in a perfectly pure state, ready
for distribution. The greatest undertaking of this kind,
however, yet accomplished is that by which the pure waters
of Loch Katrine are distributed to the city of Glasgow. This
work, recently completed by Mr. Bateman, who was also
the constructor of the waterworks of this city, is of the most
gigantic character, the water being conveyed in a covered
tunnel a distance of 27 miles through an almost impassable
country to the service reservoir. about eight miles from
Glasgow. By this means 40 million gallons of water per
day are conveyed through the hills which flank Ben Lomond,
and after traversing the sides of Loch Chou and Loch Aird
are finally discharged into the Mudgdock Basin, where the
water is impounded for distribution. We may look for-
ward to an extension of similar benefits to the metropolis,
by the same engineer, whose energies are now directed
to an examination of the pure fountains of Wales, from
whence the future supply of water to the great city is likely
to be derived. A work of so gigantic a character may be
looked upon as problematical, but when it is known that six
or seven millions of money would be sufficient for its °sem-
tion, I can see no reason why an undertaking of so much
consequence to the health of London should not ultimately
be accomplished. In leaving this subject, I cannot refrain
from an expression of deep regret at the loss which science
has sustained through the death of one of our vice-presi-
dents, the late Professor Hodgkinson. For a long series of
years he and I worked together in the same field of scientific
research, and our laboursare recorded in the " Transactions"
of this and other associations. To Mr. Hodgkinson we owe
the determination of the true form of cast-iron beams, or
section of greatest strength ; the law of the elasticity of iron
under tensile and compressive forces ; and the laws of resis-
tance of columns to compression. I look back to the days
of our joint labour with unalloyed pleasure and satisfaction.
I regret to say that another of our vice-presidents, my friend
Mr. Joseph Whitworth, is unable to be present with us
through serious, but I hope not dangerous illness. To Mr.
Whitworth mechanical science is indebted for some of the
most accurate and delicate pieces of mechanism ever exe-
cuted ; and the exactitude he has introduced into every me-
chanical operation will long continue to be the admiration of
Posterity. His system of screw threads and gauges is now
in general use throughout Europe. We owe to him a ma-
chine for measuring with accuracy to the millionth of an
inch, employed in the production of standard gauges ; and
his laborious and interesting experiments on rifled ordnance
have resulted in the production of a rifled small arm and
gun which have never been surpassed for range and preci-
sion of fire. It is with pain that I have to refer to the cause
which deprives me of his presence and support at this meet
ing. A brief allusion must be made to that marvellous dis-
covery which has given to the present generation the power
to turn the spark of heaven to the uses of speech ; to trans-
mit along the slender wire for a thousand miles a current
of electricity that renders intelligible words and thoughts.
This wonderful discovery, so familiar to us, and so use-
ful in our communications to every part of the globe,
we owe to Wheatstone, Thomson, De la Rive,
haveand
others. In land telegraphy the chief difficulties
been surmounted, but in submarine telegraphy much
remains to be accomplished. Failures have been re-
peated so often as to call for a commission on the part
of the Government to inquire into the causes, and the best
means cf overcoming the difficulties which present them-
selves. I had the honour to serve on that commission, and
I believe from the report and mass of evidence and experi-
mental research accumulated, the public will derive very
important information. It is well known that three condi-
tions are essential to success in the construction of ocean
telegraphs—perfect insulation, external protection, andeeaapn-
propriate apparatus for laying the cable safely on itslifiouing
bed. That we are far from having succeeded
these conditions is evident from the fact that ouint offu 12,000
e 1851,
miles of submarine cable which have been laid
only 3,0 A miles are actually in working order ; sositnl:at three
fourths may be considered as a failure and loss
try. the crwa-
t to
try. The insulators hitherto employed are
dete-
rioration from mechanical N
water; but the
sition and from the absorption of irom chenas"ilcjaledecompo.
fast circumstance does not appear to influence seriously the
durability of cables. Electrically, indiarubber possesses
high advantages, and, next to it, ViTray's compound and pure
gutta percha far surpass the commercial gutta percha
hitherto employed ; but it remains to be seen whether the
mechanical and commercial difficulties in the employment
of these new materials can be successfully oVerCoute. The

external projecting covering is still a subject of anxious
consideration. The objections to iron wire are its weight
and liability to corrosion. Hemp has been substituted, but
at present with no satisfactory result. All these difficulties,
together with those connected with the coiling and paying
out of the cable, will no doubt yield to careful experiment
and the employment of proper instruments in its construc-
tion, and its final deposit on the bed of the ocean. Irre-
spective of inland and international telegraphy, a new sys-
tem of communication has been introduced by Professor
Wheatstone, whereby intercourse can be carried on between
private families, public offices, and the works of merchants
and manufacturers. This application of electric currents
cannot be too highly appreciated, from its great efficiency
and comparatively small expense. To show to what an
extent this improvement has been carried, I may state
that 1,000 wires, in a perfect state of insulation, may be
formed into a rope not exeeeding half-an-inch in diameter.
I must not sit down without directing attention to a sub-
ject of deep importance to all classes—viz., the amount
of protection inventors should receive from the laws of the
country. It is the opinion of many that patent laws are inju-
rious rather than beneficial, and that no legal protection of
this kind out to be granted ; in fact, that a free-trade in
inventions, as in everything else, should be established. I
confess lam not of that opinion. Doubtless there are
abuses in the working of the patent law as it at present
exists, and protection is often granted to pirates and impos-
tors, to the detriment of real inventors. This, however, does
not contravene the principle of protection, but rather calls
for reform and amendment. It is asserted by those who
have done the least to benefit their country by inventions,
that a monopoly is injurious, and that if the patent laws are
defended, it should be, not on the ground of their benefit to
the inventor, but on that of their utility to the nation. I
believe this to be a dangerous doctrine, and I hope it will
never be acted upon. I cannot see the right of the nation
to appropriate the labours of a lifetime, without awarding
any remuneration. The nation, in this case, receives a be-
nefit ; and assuredly the labourer is worthy of his hire. lam
no friend of monopoly, but neither am I a friend of injus-
tice ; and I think that before the public are benefited by an
invention, the inventor should be rewarded either by a 14
years' monopoly, or in some other way. Our patent laws
are defective, so far as they protect pretended inventions ;
but they are essential to the best interests of the State in
stimulating the exertions of a class of eminent men, such as
Arkwright, Watt, and Crompton, whose inventions have
entailed upon all countries invaluable benefits, and have
done honour to the human race. To this association is com-
mitted the task of correcting the abuses of the present sys-
tem, and establishing such legal provisions as shall deal out
equal justice to the inventor and the nation at large. I
must not forget that we owe very much to an entirely new
and most attractive method of diffusing knowledge, admi-
rably exemplified in the Great Exhibition of 1851, and its
successors in France, Ireland, and America. Most of us re-
member the gems of art which were accumulated in this
city during the summer of 1857, and the wonderful results
they produced on all classes of the community. The im-
provement of taste, and the increase of practical knowledge
which followed these exhibitions, have been deeply felt ;
and hence the prospects which are now opening before us in
regard to the Exhibition of the next year cannot be too
highly appreciated. That Exhibition will embrace the whole
circle of the sciences, and is likely to elevate the general
culture of the public to a higher standard than we have ever
before attained. There will be unfolded almost every known
production of art, every ingenious contrivance in machinery,
and the results of discoveries in science from the earliest
period. The fine arts, which constituted no part of the Ex-
hibition of 1851, and which were only partially represented
at Paris and Dublin, will be illustrated by new creations
from the most distinguished masters of the modern school.
Looking forwards, I venture to hope for a great success and
a further development of the principle advocated by this
association—the union of science and art. In conclusion,
my apologies are due to you for the length of this address,
and I thank you sincerely for the patient attention with
which you have listened to the remarks I have had the
honour to lay before you. As the President of the British
Association, I feel that far beyond the consideration of
merely personal qualifications, my election was intended as
a compliment to practical science, and to this great and in-
fluential metropolis of manufacture, where those who culti-
vate the theory of science may witness, on its grandest
scale, its application to the industrial arts. As a citizen of
Manchester, 1 venture to assure the association that its in-
tentions are appreciated ; and to its members, as well as to
the strangers who have been attracted here by this meet-
ing, I offer a most cordial welcome."
Lord STANLEY then rose, and was greeted with cheering.
The noble lord said—Ladies and Gentlemen,—l am afraid
that it will be altogether out of my power to make myself
audible to more than a small portion of that vast audience
which I am attempting to address, I have been asked to
propose a resolution, and I do so with great pleasure.
(Cheers.) I have come here like the great majority of those
to whom lam speaking, as a learner, and not as a teacher
—as a pupil, and not as a master ; and therefore my remarks
will be exceedingly brief. I believe we are all agreed in our
wish to pay due honour to those eminent men of science who
have met in Manchester on this interesting occasion.
(Cheers.) You are always ready in Manchester to pay a
due tribute of respect to intellectual eminence in any pro-
fession ; and scientific men—l may speak of them freely,
for I am.not one myself—have upon you this especial claim,
that while their works are comparatively less before
the public eye than those of men who pursue
other professions, the results of that work endure for
ever. (Cheers.) Great conquerors, great statesmen, great
authors, have their day of influence and popularity; but
that influence and that popularity pass away, and even their
names are but faintly remembered. But every victory
which is won in the field of physical discovery—every con-
quest of man over nature, however slight it may seem to
be, however slowly and gradually it may be effected, is
effected not for a single nation nor for a single age, but for
all countries and for all time. (Applause.) Lancashire
has contributed her full share to the long list of English
cultivators of science. There are many names which will
occur to every one here—the name of the illustrious Dalton,
the name of Dr. Whewell, one of the first mathematicians
of the day, and the name of Professor Owen, whom we have
fortunately present amongst us. There are others hardly
less illustrious, who if time and opportunity served I might
enumerate here. But I will pass from that topic, and will
only say this—that I believe there is no city and no dis-
trict in the country which has profited more by the prac-
tical application of science than this city of Manchester,
and the district of which it is the centre. (Applause.)
What is it has made this great metropolis of manufactur-
ing industry that which it is ? It is not manual labour;
that we have everywhere. It is not the abundance of capi-
tal ; for capital goes wherever it can find an investment.
It is not even the coal under our feet, or the water which
feeds our steam engines ; nor is it our proximity to the sea.
Though all these are great, and some of them indispensable
advantages, still they may be found in other localities less
distinguished. What I believe has made us a race of prac-
tical workers, is the inventive aptitude and the peculiar and
the almost exclusive devotion which has been shown here
to the practical application of scientific methods and processes
to supply the material wants of mankind. (Applause.)
It is here, therefore, above all other places that the workers
—and when I say workers there are workers in all classes—_
that the men of business should pay honour to the men of
thought. (Cheers.) It is here, above all places, that those
who have reaped the reward, and have profited by the result,
of scientific invention, should be the foremost to acknowledge
the merits of those 'without whose labours scientific inven-
tions could not have taken place. (Cheers.) But there are
other objects of our meeting besides those of paying honour
to those who are visiting us here. There are two classes of
persons who are in the habit of attending such meetings as
ours. There are some who come here as student ; who
come in the hope—and it is a hope not often disappointed—
of gathering from our lectures and our discussions some
hints and suggestions which they may afterwards have an
opportunity of working out in the only way in which scien-
tific ideas can be worked out—in retirement, and at leisure.
There is another class of persons, not hitherto devoted to
science, who come here partly from the instigation of a
natural curiosity, and a desire to meet the leading men of
our time ; who come here to catch from the impulse of a
popular enthusiasm that taste for experimental research,
and for scientific investigation, which is often latent in
many a man's mind, but of which he is not aware that it
is there until circumstances call it out. For both,
our meetings
are designed ; and I think that neither
will be disappointed. If they are—if these meetings
are barren of results—l think the fault will be
our own ; and I hope,
nay I confidently believe and expect,
that there will be many men who will look back hereafter
with Pleasure to what has passed here, and will be able to
say that here was first sown the seed which afterwards ger-
minated in their minds, and which they have known how
to render practically available, not only for their own ad-
vantage, but for the advantage of their neighbours, their
country, and all mankind. (Applause.) Ladies and gen-
tlemen, en, I have said a little more than I meant; but the ob-
ject for which I rose was to Propose a resolution which has
been put into
cordially ray hands, and which lam sure you will all
accept. Ido not venture to offer any word of
criticism upon the address to which you have just listened.
This I will say,
not only on ac We all hear Mr. Fairbairn with respect,
count of the private character of the man—
and he is known to us
he himself is
entitled to take all—but also because
an honourable place amongst the pioneers
of scientific research. (Cheers.)
I have to propose, " That
the thanks of the members ofthe Association be voted to
the President for his
excellent address, and that his per-
mission be asked to allow it to be circulated among the
members." (Loud a
Mr. J. A. Tu Pplause.)
itamn, assure you it is not any
wish of my own that I saould rise to address you, but I do
so in obedienc,e,'J the request of the commitee that I should
seer\zte ,de resolution which has been so ably placed before
you by my Lord Stanley. (Hear, hear.) I presume I have
been requested to second this resolution because I happen
to bo one of the representatives of this city; and as Lord
Stanley, representing the aristocracy of the county, has ex-
pressed his high approval of Mr. Fairbairn's merits, and as
he rejoices that the Association has met in this district, so I,
identified entirely with commerce, and representing this
city, may perhaps be not unfitted to second this resolution—
(applause)—and to express my own most cordial feeling of
rejoicing, not only that the British Association has honoured
Manchester with a visit this year, but still Author has hon-