1884.] Mr. G. V. Boys on Bicycles and Tricycles. 13 



WEEKLY EVENING MEETING 



Friday, March 7, 1884. 



Henry Pollock, Esq. Manager, in the Chair. 



C. Vernon Boys, Esq. A.R.S.M. 



Bicycles and Tricycles in Theory and in Practice. 



When I was honoured by the invitation to give this discourse on 

 bicycles and tricycles, I felt that many might think the subject to be 

 trivial, altogether unworthy of the attention of reasonable or scientific 

 people, and totally unfit to be treated seriously before so highly 

 cultured an audience as usually assembles in this Institution. On the 

 other hand, I felt myself that this view was entirely a mistaken one, 

 that the subject is one of real and growing importance, one of great 

 scientific interest, and, above all, one of the most delightful to deal 

 with that a lecturer could wish to have suggested to him. 



It is quite unnecessary for me to bring forward statistics to show 

 how great a hold this so-called new method of locomotion has taken 

 upon people of all classes. The streets of London, the roads and 

 lanes in all parts of the country testify more forcibly than any words 

 of mine can do to what enormous numbers there are who now make 

 use of cycles of one sort or another for pleasure or for the purposes 

 of business. 



Not only has the newly developing trade brought prosperity to 

 towns whose manufactures were dying a natural death, but the re- 

 quirements of cyclists have given rise to a series of minor industries 

 themselves of great importance. Riders of bicycles and tricycles 

 come along so silently that instruments of warning have been devised. 

 There are bells that jingle, bells that ring, whistles, bugles, and a 

 fiendish horn on which all the noises of the farmyard can be imitated, 

 and which will utter anything from a gentle remonstrance to a wild, 

 unearthly shriek. Lamps, tyres, saddles, seats, springs, &c., are made 

 in unending variety. These form the endless subject of animated 

 conversation in which the cyclist so frequently indulges. Cyclometers, 

 or instruments for measuring the distance run, are also much used. 

 Some show the number of revolutions made by the wheel, from which 

 the distance can be found by a simple calculation, others indicate the 

 distance in miles. There is on the table a home-made one of mine 

 with a luminous face, which at the end of every mile gives the rider 

 a word of encouragement; it now indicates that a mile is nearly 

 complete : in another turn or two you will all hear it speak. 



Cyclists have a literature of their own. There are about a dozen 

 papers wholly or largely devoted to the sport. They can even insure 



