1883.] 071 Count Biimford, Originator of the Royal Institution. 433 



the direction and conducting of future processes." But i)liilosopliers 

 may become dreamers, and they have therefore habitually to be called 

 back to the study of practical questions which bear ujion the ordinary 

 pursuits of life. Science and practice are, in short, to interact, to the 

 advantage of both. This object may be promoted by the offering of 

 premiums, as done by the Society of Arts,* by the granting of patents ; 

 and, finally, by the method of the new Institution — the diffusion of 

 the knowledge of useful mechanical inventions, and their introduction 

 into life. 



One of the first practical steps taken towards the realisation of 

 these ideas was the purchase of the house, or rather houses, in 

 Albemarle Street, in which we are now assembled, and their modifica- 

 tion to suit the objects in view. Rumford's obvious intention was to 

 found an Institute of Technology and Engineering. Mere descrip- 

 tion was not sufficient. He demanded something visible and tangible, 

 and therefore proposed that the Institution should be made a reposi- 

 tory for models of all useful contrivances and improvements : cottage 

 fireplaces and kitchen utensils ; kitchens for farm-houses and for the 

 houses of gentlemen ; a laundry, including boilers, washing, ironing, 

 and drying-rooms ; German, Swedish, and Russian stoves ; open 

 chimney fireplaces, with ornamental grates ; ornamental stoves ; 

 working models " of that most curious and most useful machine, the 

 steam-engine ; " brewers' boilers ; distillers' coppers ; condensers ; 

 large boilers for hospitals ; ventilating apparatus in hot-houses ; 

 lime-kilns ; steam-boilers for preparing food for stall-fed cattle ; 

 spinning-wheels; looms; agricultural implements ; bridges of various 

 constructions ; human food ; clothing ; houses ; towns ; fortresses ; 

 harbours ; roads ; canals ; carriages ; ships ; tools ; weapons ; &c. 

 Chemistry w'as to be applied to soils, tillage, and manures ; to the 

 making of bread, beer, wine, spirits, starch, sugar, butter, and cheese ; 

 to the processes of dyeing, calico-printing, bleaching, painting, and 

 varnishing ; to the smelting of ores ; the formation of alloys ; to 

 mortars, cements, bricks, pottery, glass, and enamels. Above all, 

 " the phenomena of light and heat— those great powers which give life 

 and energy to the universe — powers which, by the wonderful process 

 of combustion, are placed under the command of human beings — will 

 engage a profound interest." In reference to the alleged size of the 

 bed of Og, the king of Basan, Bishop Watson proposed to Tom 

 Paine the°problem to determine the bulk to which a human body 

 may be augmented before it will perish by its own weight. As re- 

 gards the projected Institution, Rumford surely had passed this 

 limit, and by the ponderosity of his scheme had ensured either the 

 necessity of change or the certainty of death. In such an establish- 

 ment Davy was sure to be an iconoclast. He cared little for models — 

 not even for the apparatus with which his own best discoveries were 



* Founded in 1753. 



