Proposals for Forming a Public Institution. 739 

 PROPOSALS 



FOR FORMING BY SUBSCRIPTION, 



IN THE METROPOLIS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE, 

 A PUBLIC INSTITUTION 



FOR DIFFUSING THE KNOWLEDGE AND FACILITATING THE GEN- 

 ERAL INTRODUCTION OF USEFUL MECHANICAL INVENTIONS 

 AND IMPROVEMENTS, AND FOR TEACHING, BY COURSES OF 

 PHILOSOPHICAL LECTURES AND EXPERIMENTS, THE APPLI- 

 CATION OF SCIENCE TO THE COMMON PURPOSES OF LIFE. 



(Presented) 

 to 



by the Managers of the Institution. 



INTRODUCTION. 



THE slowness with which improvements of all kinds 

 make their way into common use, and especially 

 such improvements as are the most calculated to be of 

 general utility, is very remarkable, and forms a striking 

 contrast to the extreme avidity with which those un- 

 meaning changes are adopted which folly and caprice 

 are continually bringing forth and sending into the 

 world under the auspices of fashion. This evil has 

 often been lamented ; but few attempts have been made 

 to investigate its causes, or to remove them. 



On the first view of the matter it appears very 

 extraordinary indeed that any person should ever, in 

 any instance, neglect to avail himself of an invention 

 or contrivance within his power to obtain, that is evi- 

 dently calculated to increase his comforts, or to facili- 

 tate his labour, or to increase the profits of it; but 

 when we reflect on the subject with attention, and con- 



