1S47. 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



359 



simply a transcript of that which has been found useful at one of our older 

 universities — there is also introduced at the same time another subject, 

 differing much less in reality than in appearance, and of scarcely inferior 

 value as a means of education. I allude to that elementary view of 

 Chemistry which is presented in your first year. For if the pursuit of 

 nmthematical investigation is valuable in its lasting influeuce on the con- 

 duct of the intellect and the reflective faculties, the elements of chemical 

 philosophy form a subject equally well adapted to improve the faculty of 

 cibservation and the nature and use ol experiment as a means of acquiring 

 knowledge. The one science teaches us to reason upon assumed data ; 

 the other to interrogate nature from observed phenomena. The mathema- 

 tician commences by assuming nnd defining, the chemist by observing and 

 esyjerimenting : the former is independent of nature and external pheno- 

 mena, the latter deals only with that which is — with matter in its various 

 forms, and the laws according to which those forms are modified and 

 mutually related. 



The introduction of cbemislry as a subject of elementary instruction is 

 one of the peculiarities of the course of study here adopted. It is a dis- 

 tinct and marUed recognition of the value of experimental science; not 

 merely for its direct result in a certain amount of useful knowledge ac- 

 quired, but in its efl'ect on men'al culture. And in this respect I would 

 have you consider it and avail yoursehes of it. 



Chemistry is the link by which pure mathematical science is connected 

 wtth natural history. To understand clearly in what way and to what 

 extent the result of that abstract cultivation of the reflective faculties — 

 requiring theoretical certainty in every proof — differs from the habit of 

 arriving at results by the comparison of various observations and the 

 weighing of probabilities, would involve a disquisition much longer and 

 more metaphysical than I am at present inclined to otfer: but I am sure 

 that no one, who is aware of these two very difl^rent ways of convincing 

 the human mind, will deny the value or the practical necessity of the latter 

 method in the great majority of cases that present themselves for determi- 

 nation. For this reason it is that the evidence of experimental observa- 

 tion, as taught in the first and simplest operations of chemistry, is of ex- 

 treme value ; and for this reason chiefly — whatever may be your occupa- 

 tion subsequently — you will always feel the benetit of having been taught 

 the principles of chemical science. 



And what is perhaps the most beautiful and most interesting point in 

 such education, is that we learn these important habits of mental disci- 

 pline without etfort, and almost without being aware of it. No one whose 

 intellects are fresh and healthy, can enter on the pursuit of natural science, 

 especially in this its most attractive form, without being charmed by the 

 simplicity and beauty of the results obtained by the chemist— exhibited as 

 they are in experiments that command attention by their novelty, no less 

 than by their manifest usefulness. The method of experiment is the first 

 method of nature, — the child and the boy pursue it unthinkingly, and the 

 ptiilosopher differs from them only in arranging and directing his inquiries 

 with reference to some definite and important object. Most of our ideas, 

 if not all of them, are introduced by those inlets to knowledge which we 

 cull the senses ; and the infant, stretching forth his tiny bands to touch 

 that object which is beyond his reach, and which is only recognised by the 

 eye, is a type, and no unworthy type, of the great master of chemical 

 science, exerting his powerful and well-trained intellect to bring within the 

 range of comparison various results of observations variously made, and 

 to connect phenomena apparently distinct by discovering the nature of 

 their difference and the laws by which they are alike governed. 



While the study of mathematics thus tends to cultivate the reasoning 

 powers, and teach the nature of abstract truth ; and the pursuit of che- 

 iiiislry quickens the observing faculties, and proves the value o( experimen- 

 tal truth, — there is one department of natural history to which your atten- 

 tion is also required during the first year of your academic studies. It is 

 Mineralogy ; and by it you will learn something of the methods of recog- 

 uising important and characteristic peculiarities in which various natural 

 objects diflfer from or resemble each other. You thus learn to discriminate 

 and to compare ; and you learn also w hy certain characters are more im- 

 [lortant than others, and how best to seize the true distinctive marks. Nor 

 is this introduction to the classificatory sciences itself unimportant as a 

 mental exercise ; but, on the contrary, you will do well to pay careful 

 ailention to the reasonings here presented to you, and to the conclusions 

 deduced. As bearing upon chemistry, and teaching the nature and value 

 of the combinations of matter presented in the structure of the earth's 

 crnst, miueralogy also presents a large and interesting group of facts, 

 many of which have still to be referred to their legitimate places in sci- 

 ence; and many such facts, which at first seem isolated, will be found to 

 have a bearing on questions afterwards presented, concerning the mode in 

 which nature works in her vast subterranean laboratory. Slineralogy is 

 also intimately related to the sutject of Geology, to which in the second 

 year of your studies your attention is also directed. 



The remaining subjects of study for the first year involve some depart- 

 ments of natural philosophy not requiring mathematical knowledge ; some 

 of the elementary practice of surveying ; instruction in drawing — useful 

 to all, and absolutely necessary for every practical man ; and familiar 

 knowledge of simple machines, and the use of tools in the workshop ; 

 mince without practical knowledge no one is qualified to superintend the 

 work of others with regard to such subjects. 



I can hardly dwell too strongly or allude too often to the practical value 

 of insiruction like this. To appreciate the ideas of force and motion by 

 rttlerence to actual examples, — to learn the nature and calculate the effect 



of laws of force and motion by the rule and compass, — by the scale and 

 the measure : — to see exemplified to the senses the reality of those effecta 

 which by abstract calculation ought to be produced — these are views of 

 natural philosophy which amuse whilst they instruct, and which are easily 

 remembered and constantly put in execution. This system of combining 

 example with precept is well adapted to carry out the objects of the course 

 of education adopted, for it necessarily suggests a ready means of applying 

 experiment to theory ; and thus shows at once the value of mathematical 

 calculation, and its most direct and available use. 



Nor is it less iuteresting or less useful to the active spirit of the young 

 student, that he should be shown and hear explained some of those more 

 complicated contrivances which form the boast of our age and have so 

 largely contributed to the greatness of our country. To be able to examine 

 not merely machinery and models, but machines and factories, — to be 

 taught the principles of their construction whilst they are seen in full 

 activity and performing their appointed task, — to watch the results whea 

 not the success of a lecture-room experiment, but the fortunes of many 

 and the lives of thousands are dependent — this kind of instruction cannot 

 fail to be as permanently valuable as it is deeply interesting. 



But, as I have already reminded you, general instruction in machinery 

 is here accompanied by a special and manual instruction in the workshop. 

 The use of tools, the dexterity required in overcoming mechanical difticul- 

 ties, and the habit of regarding detail, thus introduced, must be of the 

 greatest value to every man, whatever his position in life may be. And 

 this kind of education, it should be remembered, is not less valuable to the 

 country gentleman, whose object it is to improve his own property or 

 advance the interests of his fellow creatures, than to the engineer, the 

 architect, or the surveyor. The ingenuity which has recently been brought 

 to bear on the manufacture of an astronomical instrument, perhaps the 

 most remarkable that the world has ever seen, is a striking, but by no 

 means a solitary, example of the value of this mechanical knowledge to 

 all. The Marquis of Worcester two centuries ago, and Lord Stanhope in 

 more recent times, are singular instances of men, who, from their position 

 in society, might seem removed from such employment, but whose manual 

 dexterity in the workshop was not less remarkable than the inventive 

 genius they exhibited in machinery. The workshop will not, therefore, be 

 neglected by any one who wishes to occupy a distinguished or even a 

 respectable position in his profession as an engineer or an architect. 



It is equally impossible for any one to succeed in such occupations 

 without a familiar knowledge of the principles of geometrical drawing 

 and surveying. Both are required; and both, as they need much practice, 

 must be commenced early and continued steadily. As you advance, and 

 exhibit a taste for one or other particular subject, it may be advisable to 

 turn this instruction in some special direction : but for the first year, the 

 acquiring a useful habit is perhaps of more importance than the extent to 

 which advance is made. 



During the second year, the nature of the instruction communicated aiid 

 the methods adopted do not vary greatly from the scheme I have already ex- 

 plained, the extent of the instruction and the introduction of new and more 

 advanced portions of the various subjects making the chief difference. But 

 there are two points in the education of this year to which I wish to direct . 

 your more especial attention. They are the course of lectures on practieai 

 chemistiy, and that on physical geography and descriptive geology. 



The instruction in mathematics, which for the first year was confined to 

 those departments which chiefly involve principles, now includes some of the 

 higher branches, and involves an investigation of the methods according to 

 which pure mathematical science is applied to solve important and compli- 

 cated physical problems. The instruction in natural philosophy corresponds 

 with and assumes this advance, and involves a consideration of some of those 

 important theories on which depend the working out of practical mechanical 

 problems. 



But in chemistry a new view of the subject is taken. From chemical 

 principles you advance to chemical practice, and to the nature of those 

 changes produced in various ways on the raw materials employed in the arts, 

 and dependent on the action of what are called chemical forces either 

 directly or indirectly. 



In this way you are introduced to the same kind of information connected 

 with the laboratory and the principles of chemistry, as you have in the lec- 

 tures on machinery and manufacturing art ; which may indeed be considered 

 as the practical and best illustrations of natural philosophy, as the others are 

 of chemistry. When you look around and consider the infinite value of a 

 knowledge of chemical science in the vast multitude of dehcate and important 

 operations carried on in our manufactories, you will recognise the value of 

 this part of the course. In all those employments in which co/oar is introduced 

 or required, not only in dyeing hut in bleaching, as well as in the arts of 

 tanning and soap making, in the manufacture of salts and acids of various 

 kinds — a knowledge of practical chemistry is the foundation of the whole 

 knowledge needed. In brewing also and distilliug — in metallurgy in all its 

 departments, and of late years in many extremely important operations 

 connected with the mixtures and alloys of metals, the same dependence on 

 chemistry obliges every one whose business connects bim in any way wilrh 

 them, to study the theory and the practical apphcations of this science. 

 It is not without reason then that I urge the advantage of this part of your 

 education of the second year. It involves chiefly, as you will perceive, 

 the accumulating a vast number of important facts, and thus to a certain 

 extent difl'ers in character from the education previously afforded. 



In the progress with regard to natural philosophy and chemistry will be 



