[bovey] presidential ADDRESS IS 



principal reason whicli led Dr. Roentgen to the conclusion that he had 

 discovered a new kind of ray was that he was unable to observe any 

 deflection of the ray b}^ a magnet. Experiments in the McDonald Physics 

 Building, howevei-, clearly prove that the Roentgen rays are really subject 

 to magnetic influence in a vacuum as distinctl}' as are the kathode rays. 

 The Roentgen rays and the kathode rays, therefore, behave alike ; in 

 vacuo both are subject to magnetic influence, in the air both are 

 unatfected. 



On seeking to verify this result by observing the movements of the 

 boundary line between the dark and bright parts of the bulb, by means 

 of the fluoroscope, a surprising fact was established. At each reversal of 

 the magnet, the image of the boundary line seen in the fluoroscope moved 

 in precisely the opposite direction to that of the boundary line between 

 light and darkness on the tube itself. The kathode rays indicated their 

 presence by fluoroscence upon the glass ; the Roentgen rays by lighting 

 the fluoroscope. The experiment j3roves that when the kathode rays are 

 driven one way by the magnet, the Roentgen rays are driven in the 

 opposite direction. This result was verified by taking a photograph of 

 the boundary line with the magnet in reversed positions, when the two 

 images of the boundarj' were found to be sejDarated by nearly an inch. 



Indirect reference has been made in the description of the works at 

 Niagara Falls to the enormous importance of water power in engineering. 

 Perhaps it may not be out of place to raise a note of warning as to the 

 danger of practical science so magnifying the idea of utility as entirely 

 to lose sight of the value to our race of natural beauty. Should the 

 grandeur and beauty of the Falls of Niagara — which have stimulated 

 thousands of men and women to loftier aspirations — be seriously inter- 

 fered with, it might well be that the loss to the soul of humanity would 

 be greater than its materia! gain. 



That both ideals can be kej^t in view has been well shown in one of 

 the greatest engineering triumphs of the day. In obtaining a proper 

 water supply for the city of Liverpool, a singularly beautiful artificial 

 lake in the midst of Vrynwy valley in the Welsh mountains has been 

 created. Would that as much could be said for the supplying of water 

 to the city of Manchester by utilizing the lovel}' natural lake of 

 Thirl mere ! 



These works are also a good exemplification of the great benefits 

 conferred by engineers in the providing of an absolutely uncontaminated 

 water supply. That they are not called upon to do so more universally, 

 that we are still content to drink water pumped up from a river polluted 

 to a greater or less degree with the sewage of the villages and towns on its 

 upper reaches — is nothing more nor less than a relic of the dark ages. 



The proper disposal of sewage and town refuse opens a wide field 

 for the chemical and agricultural engineer ; a problem not finally solved 



