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OBSERVATIONS ON THE DIFFUSION OF SCIENTIFIC 

 KNOWLEDGE IN LARGE TOWNS.* 



By E. P. Blakiston, M. D., of Birmingham. 



There are certain periods in the lives of all men, when it would 

 seem to be no less advantageous than proper to review their past 

 actions and scan their present position, for the purpose of examining 

 whether they have been drawn aside from those principles which 

 their judgment has approved, and whether a change of situation may 

 have called for new duties which it is important they should not 

 neglect. This self-examination, which has been considered by the 

 wise and good of all ages as wholesome and necessary to individuals, 

 is no less so to public bodies or classes of society, and would seem to 

 be especially required on the part of the influential inhabitants of this 

 town at a time when it is on the eve of becoming the centre of inland 

 communication, and when we are called upon to prepare for the re- 

 ception of a most distinguished scientific body, which may be expected, 

 at no distant period, to hold its meeting here. Allow me then, for a 

 few moments, to direct your attention to the past and the present 

 state of this place. 



In reviewing the events of the last thirty years, we cannot but be 

 struck with the extensive changes that have taken place. Engine 

 after engine has been erected, manufacture after manufacture intro- 

 duced. Places of public worship have been multiplied, and splendid 

 edifices have risen within the town itself, while its environs have be- 

 come studded with elegant and substantial dwellings. The abodes, 

 too, of the humbler classes have undergone material improvement, so 

 that, as regards their ventilation, cleanliness, and convenient arrange- 

 ment, they vie witb, if they do not surpass, those of any other town 

 containing an equal population. 



These are strong proofs of the increase of riches and prosperity. 

 Immense wealth may not have been accumulated by individuals, but 

 (which is better) there has been a large addition to the number of 

 those who, by their industry and talents, have raised themselves to 

 independence and comfort. The number and extent of the societies 

 which have risen up for the encouragement of the arts or the ad- 



" A Lecture delivered at the Birmingham Philosophical Institution, 



