ALLIED RESEARCHES 209 



estimate the power required for railway running at 

 much higher speeds than had been possible at the 

 time of the committee's researches. 



' Even when we enter the domain of practical 

 art/ said John Phillips (presidential address, 1865), 

 ' and apply scientific methods to test a great 

 process of manufacture, we do not fail of success ; 

 because we are able to join in united exertion the 

 laborious cultivators of science and the scientific 

 employers of labour. Am I asked to give an 

 example ? Let it be iron, the one substance by 

 the possession of which, by the true knowledge 

 and right use of which, more than by any other 

 thing, our national greatness is supported. What 

 are the ores of iron what the peculiarities and 

 improvements of the smelting processes what the 

 quality of the iron its chemical composition its 

 strength in columns and girders as cast iron ; in rails 

 and boiler plate, in tubes and chains, as wrought iron 

 what are the best forms in which to employ it, the 

 best methods of preserving it from decay ? These and 

 many other questions are answered by many special 

 reports in our volumes.' 



And finally, reference is due to the work of a 

 committee of the Association on the gauge of small 

 screws. After work extending over the years 

 1881-84, it recommended a series of small screws 

 which was generally adopted in watch-making and 

 for electric apparatus. Work was subsequently 

 carried on, down to 1903, with a view to overcoming 

 difficulties which arose in the construction of appli- 

 ances for gauging the threads of screws. A sub- 

 committee of the Engineering Standards Committee, 

 which was appointed by the chief specialist institutions 



