MECHANICS' MAGAZINE. 



Perhaps no cla^s of men have deserved more of their country and of 

 mankind than the great inventors and discoverers in astronomy, chemistry, 

 engineering and other departments of science ; yet very little is known of 

 many of them in proportion to the acknowledged good which has resulted 

 from their labours. We possess works of art commemorating the achieve- 

 ments of heroes in the field, and of statesmen in parliament, but until now 

 no work of any magnitude has ever been executed in honour of men whose 

 doings have laid the foundation of our commercial prosperity. We are, 

 however, able to state that this can no longer be said, as Mr. Walker, of 

 64, Margaret-street, Cavendish-square, has, after an extended period of 

 labour, produced an engraving which must remain an enduring record of 

 our greatest era in science the early part of the present century. At 

 that epoch of time, steam, under the hands of Watt, Symington, and Tre- 

 vithick, was commencing its marvellous career ; astronomy and chemistry 

 began to reveal their long-hidden secrets; while the discovery of vaccina- 

 tion, by Jenner, had already rescued thousands from death to enjoy the 



blessings left as a legacy by many a silent worker in science 



We may fairly state that we have never seen so large a body of men 

 arranged in a group, where it is necessary that all should, in a measure, 

 present their faces turned towards the spectator, so free from that stiffness 

 which is the general fault of works of this class. For this, great praise is 

 due to John Gilbert, by whom the original picture (drawn by J. F. Skill 

 and W. Walker) was designed. The engraving has been executed by 

 W. Walker and George Zobel; while in order to render the work complete, 

 a series of memoirs have been drawn up by Mr. W. Walker, Jun., and 

 furnished with a short introduction by Mr. Eobert Hunt, F.R.S., keeper 

 of the Mining Records. We can only now say of the book, that while 

 many of the memoirs are necessarily brief, one, that of Trevithick, con- 

 tains the most information yet published regarding that eminent engineer. 



BUILDING NEWS. 



We are glad to be able to inform our readers, that a large engraving 

 has just been completed by Mr. Walker, of 64-, Margaret- street, Cavendish- 

 square, in honour of the men of science who have done so much towards 

 the establishment of our present commercial prosperity. This work, which 

 may well be called historical, represents fifty-one illustrious men, living 

 in the early part of the present century, assembled in the Upper Library 

 of the Royal Institution. The picture is divided into three groups, and 



