PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 7 



tectural style seems to be only a vision of despair — all is 

 imitation, which though it may be the best flattery, is 

 undoubtedly the confession of mediocrity. Not so in science. 

 The galaxy of its brilliant originators still shine supreme 

 in the great heaven of scientific discovery, and periodically 

 there gleams from it some bright particular star, leading 

 us to some epoch making achievement in the betterment, 

 and in the progress, of mankind. 



The discovery of the secrets of nature are generally 

 individualistic, and lead to the laws of nature, laws which 

 are interpreted by the scientist and regulated in their 

 action, to benefit of mankind, by the surgeon, the navigator, 

 but above all, by the engineer. The discoverer, the scien- 

 tist, and the executant, this great trinity, is necessary for 

 the physical well being of the world. In this music of the 

 spheres, we must have the inventor of the principles of 

 harmony, the composer to apply them, and the performer 

 to delight our ears and our intellect. 



The absolute necessity of the man of science to modern 

 life, has recently been well illustrated by the production 

 of an amusing comedy, where, among a party cast on a 

 desert island, he, alone, who knows, is king. Rank, and 

 worth in other respects, have to go under. The man who 

 can, from his knowledge, create, he who holds command of 

 the sources of material existence, he it is who leads the 

 party ; to rebel against him would mean misery and 

 starvation. The greater part of the material, and not a 

 little of the moral, progress of the world is due to the 

 scientist and the engineer. They have lightened the tasks 

 of life, and enabled men to find leisure from the drudgery 

 of the mere struggle for existance. In the days of the 

 spinning wheel, the hand-loom, and the carrier's waggon, 

 the poor man's cottage was the scene of perpetual toil, 

 even the small children had to work, with no time for 



