792 REPORT— 1895. 



mation about works abroad, and deriving experience from their progress and 

 results. 



Engineering Literature. — Lawyers have been defined as persons who do not 

 possess a knowledge of law, but who know where to find the law which they may 

 require. It may be hoped that a similar definition is not applicable to engineers ; but 

 with the rapid increase of engineering literature, it is most desirable that engineers 

 should be able readily to refer to the information on any special subject, or descrip- 

 tions of any executed works, which may have been published. Much valuable 

 miitter, however, is buried in the proceedings of engineering and scientific societies, 

 and in various publications ; and often a considerable amount of time is expended in 

 fruitless search. This great waste of time and energy, and the loss of available 

 information involved, led me a few years ago to suggest that a catalogue of engi- 

 neering literature ought to be made, arranging the lists of publications relating to 

 the several branches under separate headings. There is a possibility that this 

 arduous and costly task may be partially accomplished in separate volumes ; and, 

 at any rate, the first step has been effected by the publication, under the auspices 

 of the Paris Inland Navigation Congress of 1892, of a catalogue of the publications 

 on inland navigation. A start has also been made in France, Italy, and England, 

 towards the prepai'ation of a similar catalogue on maritime works, which it may 

 be hoped means will one day be found to publish on the meeting of some future 

 congress. Engineers who have searched, even in the best libraries, for the pub- 

 lished information on any special subject, will appreciate what a great boon an 

 engineering subject catalogue would be to the profession, and indirectly to the 

 public at large. 



The occasional publication of comprehensive books on special branches of engi- 

 neering, and concise papers on special subjects, by competent authorities, are 

 extremely valuable in advancing and systematising engineering knowledge ; but 

 the lime and trouble involved in the preparation of such publications must, like 

 the organising of congresses, be regarded as a duty performed in the interests of 

 the profession and science, and not as affording a prospect of any pecuniary 

 benefit. 



Concluding Remarks. — In this address, I have endeavoured, though very imper- 

 fectly, to indicate how engineering consists in the application of natural laws and 

 the researches of science for the benefit and advancement of mankind, and to point 

 out that increased knowledge will be constantly needed to keep pace with, and to 

 carry on, the progress that has been made. The great advantages provided by 

 engineering works in facilitating communications and intercourse, and consequently 

 the diflfusion of knowledge, in increasing trade, in extending civilisation to remote 

 regions, in multiplying the comforts of life, and aflfording enlarged possibilities of 

 enjoyment and change of scene, may be regarded as amply acknowledged ; but the 

 more gradual and less obvious, though not less important, benefits effected by 

 engineering works are not so fully realised. 



A comparison of engineering with the other chief branch of applied science, 

 medicine, exhibits .some similarities and differences. In both professions, the dis- 

 coveries of science are utilised on behalf of mankind ; but whilst physicians devote 

 themselves mainly to individuals, engineers are concerned in promoting the well- 

 being of the community at large. Persons reluctantly consult doctors when they 

 are atf;acked by disease, or incapacitated by an accident ; but they eagerly resort 

 for enjoyment to railways, steamships, mountain tramways, piers, great wheels, 

 and Eiftel towers ; and they frequently avail themselves of the means of cheap and 

 easy locomotion to complete their restoration to health by change of air and climate. 

 Physicians try to cure people when they are ill ; whereas engineers endeavour, by 

 good water-supply and efficient drainage, to maintain them in health ; and in this 

 respect, the evident results of medical skill are far more readily realised than the 

 invisible, though more widespread, preventive benefits of engineering works. 

 Statistics alone can reveal the silent operations of sanitary works ; and probably no 

 better evidence could be given of the inestimable value of good water and proper 

 drainage on the health of the population of large towns, when aided by the progress 

 of medical science, than the case of London, where, towards the close of the last 



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