4 30 



NATURE 



{March 6, 1890 



and a half millions has been the entire cost of the structure, 

 of which ;^8oo,ooo (nearly one-third of this amount) has 

 been expended on plant and general charges. These figures 

 will give you some idea of the magnitude of the work, and 

 will assist you to realize the labour and anxiety which all 

 those connected with it must have undergone. The works 

 "were commenced in April 1883, and it is highly to the credit 

 of everyone engaged in, the operation that a structure so 

 stupendous and so exceptional in its character should have been 

 ■completed within seven years. The opening of the bridge must 

 necessarily produce important results and changes in the railway 

 service of the east coast of Scotland, and it will, above all, place 

 the valuable manufacturing and mineral-producing district of 

 Fife in immediate communication with the south side of the 

 Firth of Forth. When the Glenfarg line, now nearly completed, 

 is opened for traffic, the distance between Edinburgh and Perth 

 will be reduced from 69 to 47 miles, and instead of the journey 

 occupying, as at present, two hours and 20 minutes, an express 

 will be able to do it in an hour. Dundee, likewise, will be 

 brought to within 59 miles of Edinburgh, and Aberdeen 130 

 miles, and no sea ferries will have to be crossed. The construc- 

 tion of the bridge is due to the enterprise of four important 

 railway companies — (i) North British (the bridge is in its district), 

 (2) North-Eastern, (3) Midland, and (4) Great Northern — and 

 the design is that of two most eminent engineers, Sir 

 John Fowler and Mr, Benjamin Baker. The contractor was 

 Mr. William Arrol, and the present Tay Bridge, and the 

 bridge which I have inaugurated to-day, will be last- 

 ing monuments of his skill, resources, and energy. I have 

 much pleasure in stating that, on the recommendation of 

 the Prime Minister, the Queen has been pleased to create Mr. 

 Matthew William Thomp-^on, Chairman of the Forth Bridge 

 Company and of the Midland Railway Company, and Sir 

 John Fowler, engineer-in-chief of the Foith Bridge, baronets of 

 the United Kingdom. The Queen has also created, or intends 

 to create, Mr, Benjamin Baker, Sir John Fowler's colleague^ a 

 Knight Commander of the Order of St. Michael and St. George, 

 and to confer on Mr. William Arrol, the contractor, the honour 

 of a knighthood. I must not allow this opportunity to pass 

 without mentioning the valuable assistance which has been 

 rendered to the companies by Mr. Wieland, their able and in- 

 defatigable secretary, who deserves especial praise for the 

 admirable way in which he has carried out the important finan- 

 cial arrangements essential in a scheme of such magnitude. 

 Before concluding I must express my pleasure at seeing here 

 Major-General Hutchinson and Major Marindin, two of the 

 nspecting officers of the Board of Trade. Although in 

 this country great undertakings of the kind which we are 

 celebrating this day are wisely wholly left to the enterprise 

 and genius of private individuals without aid or favour from the 

 State ; yet, in connection with these particular works, Parlia- 

 ment, I am informed, for the first time associated officers of the 

 Board of Trade with those practically engaged in the construc- 

 tion of this magnificent bridge from its commencement by re- 

 quiring the Board of Trade to make quarterly reports to be laid 

 before Parliament as to the nature and progress of the works. 

 This most important and delicate duty has been performed by 

 Major-General Hutchinson and Major Marindin ; and I now 

 congratulate them on the completion of their responsible duties, 

 which they have carried out in a way that redounds credit to 

 themselves and to the department which they so ably serve. 

 Allow me again, gentlemen, in thanking you for the kind way 

 in which you have received this toast, to assure you of the great 

 pleasure and gratification it has been to me to have been present 

 on this occasion to inaugurate this great success of the skill of 

 engineering." 



Sir John Fowler, in acknowledging the toast of the Forth 

 Bridge, said he begged to return his most grateful thanks to His 

 Royal Highness the Prince of Wales for the flattering manner 

 in which he had spoken of their work. It was now seven years 

 ago since the foundations of the bridge were commenced, but up 

 to two years ago they had to endure not only the legitimate 

 anxieties of their duties, but the attacks and evil predictions 

 which were always directed against those who undertook en- 

 gineering work of novelty or exceptional magnitude. It was 

 very curious to watch the manner of retreat of these prophets of 

 failure. The results had proved them to be mistaken. But he 

 •could tell some very curious stories connected with the bri ige. 

 He pointed out how, from the nature of the materials which had 

 been used in the construction of the bridge, and from the na- 



tionality of the men who had been engaged in that construction, 

 the bridge possessed an international character. He also pre- 

 dicted that the bridge would last for many, many years, and he 

 cordially acknowledged the workmanship and ability of all who 

 had assisted in its erection. As to the workmen themselves, 

 he said they had done admirable work, and had never knowingly 

 scamped a rivet. 



Mr. Arrol also acknowledged the toast, and Mr. Baker, in 

 response to calls from the audience, made a few remarks. 



Mr. John Dent, Deputy-Chairman of the Forth Bridge Rail- 

 way Company, in proposing the toast of " The Guests," con- 

 gratulated the recipients of the special honours bestowed by the 

 Queen, and he spoke of the universal reputation which had 

 become attached to the bridge, which stood as a monument of 

 industry, of genius, and of ability. 



After a clever speech from Lord Rosebery, Herr Mehrtens, 

 of the Prussian Railway Department, replied for himself and 

 in the name of his companions from Saxony, Austria, and 

 Hungary. He expressed their feelings of thankfulness that they 

 had been permitted to be present on so interesting an occasion, 

 and their admiration at all the wonderful things they had seen 

 that day. Ttiat day, he said, marked the commencement of a 

 new era in iron bridge building. He congratulated Great 

 Britain, which had led the way in iron bridge building, on now 

 having the largest span bridge and the strongest bridge in the 

 world. 



M. Picot, on behalf of the railway engineers of France, also 

 replied in a speech in which he eulogized the bridge and its 

 engineers and contractors. 



UNIVERSITY AND EDUCATIONAL 

 INTELLIGENCE. 



Cambridge. — The General Board of Studies announce that 

 they will this term appoint an additional Lecturer in Botany for 

 three years, from the beginning of the Easter term 1890. The 

 stipend is ;((^ioo a year. Names of candidates are to be sent to 

 the Vice-Chancellor on or before March 8. 



The Syndics of the Press propose that a gift of books pub- 

 lished by them shall be made to the Library of the University of 

 Toronto, lately destroyed by fire. 



The discussion by the Senate of the proposal to accept the 

 Newall telescope was on the whole favourable to the proposal, 

 though the difficulty of finding the funds required for its adequate 

 maintenance and use has not yet been made. From remarks 

 made by members of the Observatory vSyndicate, it appears that 

 it regards the purchase of a large reflecting telescope as the first 

 claim on the Sheepshanks Fund ; and it is unwilling to deplete 

 the fund until this purchase can be effected. Prof. Liveing 

 referred to the recent development of astronomical physics, and 

 said the University was bound to further it. The Newall tele- 

 scope was specially suited for physical researches, and to reject 

 it as a " white elephant " would damage the University by dis- 

 couraging other benefactors. The matter is to be referred to the 

 Financial Board. 



At the meeting of the Philosophical Society on March 10, the 

 following papers are promised : — W. Gardiner, on the germina- 

 tion of Acacia sphcErocepkala ; M. C. Potter, the thickening of 

 the stem in Cucurbitacese ; Dr. Lea and W. L. Dickinson, note 

 on the action of rennin and fibrin-ferment ; W. Bateson, on some 

 skulls of Egyptian mummified cats. 



SOCIETIES AND ACADEMIES. 

 London. 



Royal Society, February 20. — "A Comparative Study of 

 Natural and Artificial Digestions " (Preliminary Account). By 

 A. Sheridan Lea, Sc.D., Fellow of Gonville and Caius College, 

 Cambridge, University Lecturer in Physiology. Communicated 

 by Prof. Michael Foster, Sec. K.S, 



The objects of the investigation were (i.) to obtain in artificial 

 digestions some closer approximation to the general conditions 

 under which natural digestion is carried on in the body, and (ii. ) 

 to apply the improved methods of carrying on artificial diges- 

 tions to the elucidation of some special differences, which so far 

 have appeared to exist between the natural and artificial pro- 

 cesses. 



