xlvi Presidents Address 



mutton, turtle, &c,, and at our exhibition in 1 867 he received 



a medal for preserved meat and vegetables 20 years' old. 



There can be little doubt that Mr. Elliott may be considered as 



the Austrahan pioneer in this now very important industry. 



The utilisation of waste flesh, carcases, and ofFal for manure, 



is another item of our progress worthy of note. In my last 



address I referred to a method invented by our member 



Mr. Geo. Foord, for rapidly and economically converting 



all such material into high class manures, which was then 



about to be carried out upon a manufactiu-ing scale. This 



is now an accomphshed fact, and the method may be 



seen in operation at works specially constructed for the 



pm-pose, and carried on by Messrs. MacMeikan and Co. at 



Footscray. The process maiuly consists of breaking down 



first the soft tissues and ultimately the bony fabric of 



carcases by the agency of oil of vitriol at a high temperature. 



The vitriol is manufactured in the contiguous works of Mr. 



Robert Smith, and with this facility entire droves of animals 



or the refuse of the meat preserving works can be converted 



into merchantable manure, separating the tallow in a 



marketable form, in three hours, without any contamination 



of the air. 



I may be pardoned perhaps for alluding to the completion 



of our Post-office clock as a small instance of our progress in 



the mechanical arts ; it is the first instance of any clock of 



large dimensions being made in Austraha, and, I beheve, in 



the southern hemisphere. The time-keeping part, you are 



aware, was completed some time ago ; but the striking 



mechanism was only erected in its place a few weeks since, 



and must be considered as still upon its trial, inasmuch as 



the probation such machines usually undergo in the workshop 



in this instance takes place in its final position. 



At the time the clock was stopped for the purpose of erecting 



bells and striking machinery, I advised the Public Works 



