Section J. 



ENGENEERING AND ARCHITECTURE. 



Address by the President, 

 C. NAPIER BELL, C.E. 



In fulfilling my tluty to one Section, by giving an address on 

 Civil Engineering and Arcljitecture, I feel that a subject of 

 such wide extension, embracing a number of separate branches, 

 can only be touched very su])erficially within the time at my 

 disposal. 



It is usual in an address of this nature to give a sketch of 

 the progress of engineering works and science throughout 

 the world up to date ; this, however, is a big job, and, as the 

 main facts of engineering progress are well known to the 

 world at large, I must beware of wearying the meeting with 

 familiar facts. I must therefore pick my way through the 

 wilderness of beaten tracks, gathering a handful of notes by 

 the way, and leave to our members to exhibit the jewels of 

 original research that each has unearthed in his own particular 

 path. 



As I am not an architect, I may be taking too much upon 

 myself in saying anything about this art, unless it be allowed 

 that Architecture and Civil Engineering overlap each other's 

 boundaries in so many points that he who practises one will 

 continually find occasions when he requires to know some- 

 thing of the other. 



Now, architecture differs from engineering by the circum- 

 stance that, in addition to the mechanics of mere construction, 

 it has a large part in " art " considered as combining the 

 beautiful and aesthetic, the sense of harmony and style with 

 construction. Architecture has the advantage of engineering 

 in being the more ancient profession, and in the olden times 

 the two were twin sister arts ; it is only recently that, with 

 much hesitation, the stern exigencies of the times compelled 

 them to part company. 



