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it was. Houses, equipages, dress, and entertainments are all 

 more costly ; the working hours are shorter, while the holidays 

 are longer ; and yet withal competition in most businesses is 

 keener, and the struggle in what Bret Harte has so aptly described 

 as " the fierce race for wealth " more severe than ever. Hence 

 it comes that the exeitement of our days seems to demand a 

 reflex of excitement in our evenings ; the quieter pursuits of 

 former times no longer suffice for the youth of the present da}', 

 and I fear we cannot deny that the literary, scientific, and ar- 

 tistic character of the town has not kept pace with its rapid 

 growth in population and wealth. The age we live in seems 

 to be becoming more and more utilitarian ; we are forced to 

 admit this, and having to meet facts as they are, not perhaps 

 as we might wish them to be , it behoves us to pause and con- 

 sider whether, as we cannot lead as we might like, we might 

 not lead in the direction where we may be of most use. Whether, 

 in fact, we cannot use our organization here, partially at least, 

 for the furtherance of such useful objects as the material, as well 

 as the moral and intellectual, advancement of the community ; 

 and I believe we can aid towards the attainment of so desirable 

 an end by encouraging communications here dealing with the 

 application of science to, and combining of it with the practical 

 aims and objects of daily life. 



Economic geology, for instance, teaches us how best to utilize 

 such deposits as the coal measures of Tyrone, the salt beds at 

 Carrickfergus, and the hematite iron ore fields of Antrim. Engi- 

 neering and applied mechanics serve not only to economise 

 the use and the wear and tear of, but even to raise the value of, 

 manual labour. The earnings of, say, mechanics or harvest 

 labourers, or indeed of any class of workmen, have not been 

 reduced in consequence of the invention of indoor labour-saving 

 appliances or of reaping or mowing machines, but are higher 

 now than formerly, while females can earn much better wages 

 in a mill or factory or in many other ways than they formerly 

 did while at the needle or with the spinning wheel. The dis- 

 coveries in magnetism and electricity are truly marvellous, and 

 their results are no less so. All the countries of the civilised 



