(72) HISTORr of the SOCIETr. 



^«oum of chanical fkill, neceflary in the execution, were expefted from 

 Dr Roebuck. It fell to his fhare alfo to fix upon the befl and 

 moft favourite fituation for eredting their intended works. With 

 that view, Dr Roebuck examined many different places in 

 'Scotland, particularly thofe on both fides of the Frith of Forth ; 

 and, after a careful and minute comparifon of their advantages 

 and difadvantages, he at length made choice of a fpot, on the 

 banks of the river dirron, as the moft advantageous fituation 

 for the eftablifhment of the iron manufacture. There, he found, 

 they could eafily command abundance of water for the neceffary 

 machinery ; and in the neighbourhood of it, as well as every 

 ■where both along the north and fouth coafts of the Frith, were 

 to be found inexhauflible quarries of ironftone, limeflone, and 

 coal. From Carron, alfo, they could eafily tranfport their ma- 

 nufadlures to different countries by fea. The communication 

 with Glafgow, at that time, by land-carriage, which opened up 

 to them a ready way to the American market, was fhort and 

 eafy. 



Many other things, which need not be here enumerated, fell 

 to Dr Roebuck's fhare in preparing and providing for the in- 

 trodudlion of this new manufa^Hiure into Scotland, particularly 

 with refpedl to the planning and ereClion of the furnaces and 

 machinery. To infure fuccefs, in that department, nothing 

 Was omitted which ability, induflry, and experience could fug- 

 gefl. With this view,' he called to his afliftance Mr Smeaton, 

 then by far the firfl engineer in England. It was from him he 

 received plans and drawings of the water-wheels and blowing 

 apparatus, which, notwithflanding all the mechanical improve- 

 ments which have been made fince, remain unrivalled in 

 any of the other ironworks eredled in Britain. This was 

 "the firfl introdu(5liGn of Mr Smeaton into Scotland, and 

 "was the occafion of various other difplays of the fkill and ex- 

 • perience of that celebrated engineer in that part of the iHand. 



With 



