634 EEPORT— 1887. 



The little known territory which separates the domains of chemistry and 

 ph}'siolog3' will, in my opinion, offer a wide and interesting field for research, after 

 that of pure chemistry shall have been exhausted or lost its interest. Most 

 important problems connected with life and its relation to the inorganic world there 

 await solution, and I confess that I am inclined to envy the young investigator who, 

 coming provided with an ample store of chemical and physical knowledge, shall 

 apply himself to the solution of these problems. The pleasures derived from the 

 successful pursuit of such studies belong to the highest and purest that we are able 

 to conceive. I can, however, only repeat what has so often been said before, and 

 what the young man of science should not forget, that a life devoted to research 

 only involves no material rewards ; it certainh' never secures wealth, sometimes 

 not even honour nor fame. Looked on with indifference or even dislike by the 

 State and the general public, all that the man of science can certainly look forward 

 to at the close of his career is the addition at his hands of a few stones to tlie vast 

 edifice of Truth, and the consciousness of having attained a higher stage of intel- 

 lectual insight. 



You may probably expect me, before I conclude, to make some reference to 

 technological matters, to the various chemical arts and manufactures for which the 

 Manchester district is noted. At the last meeting of the British Association in 

 Manchester a report on the condition at that time of manufacturing chemistry in 

 the South Lancashire district, by Sir Henry lloscoe, the late Dr. Angus Smith, and 

 myself, was laid before the Chemical Section. A similar report showing the pro~ 

 gress made in chemical technology since that time would have been interesting. 

 Great changes have taken place during the period that has elapsed, especially as re- 

 gards the alkali trade, and quite a new branch of industry has been developed, that 

 of the coal-tar colours. A description of these new features of our chemical 

 industry with statistics of production would therefore have been acceptable. The 

 idea of a report had, however, to be given up on account of the difficulty of obtain- 

 ing reliable information as to details, and in these matters it is the details principally 

 •which are interesting, the general features of the subject being well known. It 

 can hardly be a matter for surprise, I think, that our manufacturers, considering 

 the active competition to which they are exposed, and the disadvantages under 

 which they labour in consequence of the exclusiveness of foreign nations, should 

 be loth to furnish information which would benetit their rivals in trade. Several 

 interesting papers on branches of chemical industry by gentlemen well versed in 

 them will, however, be read before the Section, and these will, to a great extent, 

 make up for the want of a general report. In the Chemical Section of our Jubilee 

 Exhibition, too, you will see a very tine collection of chemical products, more 

 extensive and beautiful, perhaps, than any previously brought together, and these 

 will give you a good idea of our industrial activity. It would have been interest- 

 ing to witness step by step some of the processes employed in the manufacture of 

 these various products, but this, I am sorry to say, must not be expected generally. 



To some it may seem that this Jubilee Exhibition shows the manufacturing in- 

 dustry and prosperity of this district at least at their highest state of development; 

 that they are now at their meridian, and in the future are doomed to decline. If 

 this be so — and there are certainly indications which seem to favour this view — it 

 would be well for those whose visits here are only occasional to take especial note 

 of the present state of things so as to be able to compare their impressions when 

 they next visit us with those now received, since gradual changes in communities, 

 as in individuals, are more patent to casual observers than to those who are always 

 on the watch. 



From some points of view the signs of the times are certainly not encouraging. 

 It should not be forgotten that the manufacturing prosperity of this district de- 

 pends to a great extent on the ample supply of a product which is brought to ns at 

 some cost from tropical and semi-tropical countries to be re-exported in the shape 

 of manufactured goods. A political convulsion abroad, and this, unfortunately, is 

 a casualty that may at an^' time be expected, or even the determination on the part 

 of other nations to starve us out, however short-sighted such a determination would 

 be, might cut off our supplies and disable us permanently as we were partially' dis- 



