PROCEEDINGS OF THE COTTESWOLD CLUT^ 205 



natural products, as well as much refuse from manu- 

 factures, yet lying undeveloped, to which attention will 

 one day be prominently turned, as new demands arise to 

 be supplied. My desire is to press the importance of the 

 prevention of waste, and I shall advert briefly to the 

 utilization of the refuse of certain manufactures, and pro- 

 cesses of domestic economy, with the hope of suggesting 

 ta others the profits which might accrue to themselves, 

 and the benefits which would result to mankind from the 

 useful application of many now worthless residues. 



Man has necessarily long observed this absolute 

 economy of Nature which turns every scrap to some 

 ultimate account ; and when compelled by circumstances 

 (as in China) he has long put in practice. But our 

 strictest economy in England is profuse waste compared 

 with the assiduous care with which everything is turned 

 by the celestials to the best account. The pressure of 

 population which has brought this about in China, is 

 beginning to tell upon Europeans ; and hundreds of 

 materials are now worked up, that not long ago were 

 utterly unutilized. And thriftiness begets thriftiness, as 

 waste begets waste. There are scores of manufactures 

 producing by-products, which almost necessitate supple- 

 mentary factories to use them up, and I shall presently 

 refer to an instance where in one prominent article, an 

 original factory is supplemented in this manner by two 

 others, the one digesting the other's discarded waste. 

 Scientific investigation has made " Arabian airs " from the 

 most offensive refuse, and called forth splendid dyes from 

 substances pitchy black. In this manner our stores are 

 replenished, and it often happens that dearth, by the 

 energy it gives to human research, is turned into plenty. 

 Moreover, there are many materials which have long been 

 subservient to mean purposes, and which cannot therefore 

 be strictly called waste substances, that are yet capable of 

 taking a much higher place in the world's uses ; and some 

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