Manchester Memoirs, Vol. Ixii. (191 7) 9 



number of isolated discoveries of equal value and importance, 

 or left behind hiim a greater numhetr of instruments for others 

 to work with. He contributed fifty papers to this Society. 



He was Superintendent of the Victoria Gallery of Practical 

 Science. This was discontinued owitng to the pressure of the 

 times, and he was depirived of any 'means of subsistence. After 

 struggling with difficulties which would have weighed most iqe|n 

 down, he was at length, through {jhe intercession of Mr. Binney, 

 another member of thlel Society, and other friends, placed by 

 Lord John Russell on the Civsil Liiisjt for a pension of ^50 per 

 annum. He died within, two- years afterwards, leaving a wife 

 and daughter unprovided for. Thus wretchedly did the Govern- 

 ment at that time vjalue the (Scientific achievements of such men 

 of genius who did so mluch. for the material welfare of the 

 country. 



Mr. Sturgeon, it lis said, was above the average height; 

 " his open brow and upright carriagje conveyed the impression 

 of integrity of character, an impression which wlas deepened 

 by personal acquaintance." 



In 1845 tne Society appointed a (Committee of It's Members: 

 John Thorn (of Chorley), James Young, F.R.S!. (of Paraffin Oil 

 fame), and John Moore, the then President, to report on the 

 potato disease which w$ at that time prevalent. They found 

 that treatment of the potatoes in bulk with the fumes of burn- 

 ing sulphur was the most effective preventive. 



Joseph Cheslborough Dyer, V.-P. pi jthis Society, elected 1818, 

 was born in Connecticu|t, 'U.S.A., 17th November 1 , 1780, and died 

 at Manchester, 3rd May, 187 1, agjeki 92. He claimed to be ain 

 English subject, as the date of his birth preceded the War of 

 Independence. He was in New London ^during its bombard- 

 ment and burning by the English Fleet under the command 

 of Benedict Arnold. He and his men protested against the 

 bombardment of an open town, but! they had to obey the 

 higher command. Boarded, when at school, with Mr 1 . Sands, 

 a watchmaker, he became enamoured Of mechanics. As a boy, 

 his father took him to Wickford, U.Si.A., to enjoy boating and 

 fishing. Here he constructed an unsinkable lifeboat. He in- 

 vented fur-shearing and nail-makingi machinery. In 1825 he, 

 with Darnforth, invented the (roving frame; in, 181 1 the carding, 

 engine. At this time he was in communication with Robert 

 Fulton, the inventor of the successful steamboat in America.- 

 The miserable event known as the " Peterloo Massacre " 

 roused him to 'ihe abusfas of the time. 



In 1830 he, with others, took the contributions of Man- 



