president's address SECTION J. 189 



out hints that in some alloys we shall have this want supplied, 

 with which engineers will not be slow in building up new 

 triumphs of construction. 



Engineering does not confine itself to structures in the 

 modern materials of iron and steel ; it still works upon the 

 old materials with new and greatly improved methods. The 

 great works of the ancients cannot compare with those of 

 our days, either in magnitude or excellence of design, and 

 this result we owe not so much to the wealth and greater 

 population of modern times, but to our perfection of tools 

 and appliances, our intimate knowledge of structural design, 

 of the cost of work in all details, of the time in which it can 

 be done, to our knowledge of the most suitable material to 

 use in different parts, and our experience and inventiveness 

 in dealing with every difficulty as it arises. These faculties 

 enable us to direct the forces we bi'ing to bear on our works 

 with almost unerring precision ; all labour is distributed and 

 directed with the clearest knowledge of the best results to be 

 obtained by the least expenditure of power ; little or no 

 labour is wasted, and it might not be an exaggeration to say 

 that we do the same work now with one quarter of the 

 labour that was necessary in the old days. 



Although many sciences have helped to equip engineering 

 with its present store of resources, it may be allowed to take 

 credit for the use it has made of them, and when we consider 

 what it has done in modern times one cannot fail to be struck 

 with wonder and admiration. Engineering has almost trans- 

 formed the earth. It has made the whole world neighbours; 

 the most distant regions are brought within easy reach of 

 each other ; it has enabled milHons of human beings to live 

 and thrive in places that were inaccessible wildernesses. 

 Small countries like Xrreat Britain are enabled to support a 

 population which would have been impossible wei'e it not for 

 the shipping docks and railways, and the steam machinery 

 which does more work than millions of men and horses. 

 Engineering has taken from travelling all of its toil and most 

 of its danger ; journeys across continents and round the world 

 are done for pure iioliday pleasure ; food and productions 

 of ev^ery kind are conveyed in vast quantities across continents 

 and over the sea with a speed and cheapness which is per- 

 fectly marvellous ; nations mingle together and get rid of 

 their prejudices ; even " Afric's sunny fountains and India's 

 coral strand" behold with wonder and delight crowds of 

 Cook's tourists disporting in their midst. 



