294 - KANSAS CITY REVIEW OF SCIENCE. 



adaptation of their works to the circumstances of the time, are absolutely won- 

 derful. 



One of Judge Wright's principal assistants was Canvass White. His skill 

 early brought him into notice, and he was sent by the State of New York to En 

 gland to learn what he could, especially about hydraulic cement. Despairing of 

 getting it at any reasonable price, and of making it stand the voyage, then from 

 four to ten weeks, he set himself on his return to finding or making a substitute 

 for European cement. 



Led partially by the geological position of the hydraulic limes in England, 

 and partly by what was known of their composition, he explored and tested cer- 

 tain rocks of western New York, and made the first discovery of hydraulic cement 

 in America. The State of New York gave him $10,000 for his discovery. Subse- 

 quently he discovered or recognized cement rock in Pennsylvania in the way till 

 then unknown, but now so familiar, by the contact of limestone and slate. 



And yet hov(7 soon those men, once so widely known, are forgotten. An 

 eminent and excellent engineer, who had paid especial attention to cement, lately 

 told me he never heard of Canvass White. 



One of Judge Wright's assistants, but much younger than Canvass White, 

 was John B. Jervis, whose name to-day is one of the most honored on the rolls of 

 this society. 



Many of the distinctive characteristics of American engineering originated 

 with those Erie Canal engineers. We practice their methods to-day, though most 

 of their very names are forgotten. As a class, they wrote little. There were 

 then no engineering papers prepared, and no engineering societies to perpetuate 

 them, if they had been prepared. They were not scientific men, but knew by in- 

 tuition what other men knew by calculation. Judge Wright's counsel was "as if 

 a man had inquired at the oracle of God." What science they had, they knew 

 well how to apply to the best advantage. Few men have ever accomplished so 

 much with so little means. 



The mention of cement reminds us of quite a new use of it, lately, under the 

 direction of Mr. Chanute. The Erie road crosses the Genesee River by a high 

 viaduct just above a fall. The bed of the river was wearing away, and would 

 soon destroy the viaduct. An artificial bottom of cement has stopped the wear. 



The Erie Canal was opened in 1825. Governor Clinton passed through in a 

 boat on one corner of the deck of which stood a cask of water from Lake Erie, 

 on another corner a cask of water of the Hudson. Gov. Clinton limped from 

 the boat to the public halls, and speeches were made by and to him ; and it was a 

 great glorification. The result justified the public expectation. It built up the 

 City of New York, and settled the question of commercial supremacy between 

 that city and Philadelphia. ^ 



The success of the Erie Canal soon brought about the construction of many 

 others. They were thought to afford the most economical means of transporta- 



2 An old pilot once told me that in his younger days there were three or four ships out of Philadelphia 

 to one out of New York. 



