Magazine  of  the  School  of  Agriculture. 
19 
the  passage  through  the  Suez  Canal,  and  the 
steamer  consumed  little  over  20  tons  a day.  The 
voyage  was  made  in  much  less  time  and  with 
little  more  than  a third  of  the  quantity  of 
coal  that  would  have  been  required  under  the 
old  system.  This  great  economy  was  effected 
entirely  by  means  of  a better  knowledge  of  the 
nature  and  properties  of  steam  and  of  improved 
methods  of  treating  it. 
When  I was  a boy,  indiarubber  was  used 
only  for  erasing  pencil  marks,  but  when  the 
chemists  took  it  in  hand,  they  soon  discovered 
new  properties  that  it  possessed,  new  forms  and 
combinations  of  which  it  was  capable,  and  the 
result  of  their  scientific  treatment  lias  been 
to  make  it  one  of  the  most  valuable  materials, 
and  of  most  general  use  in  the  whole  range  of 
arts  and  manufactures. 
One  other  illustration  must  suffice.  About  1853 
there  was  a great  controversy  about  rifles  for  the 
army,  and  there  was  much  difference  of  opinion  on 
the  subject.  There  did  not  appear  to  be  any  estab- 
lished principle,  either  of  the  best  form  or  proper 
construction  of  the  weapon.  A Commission  was 
therefore  appointed  to  receive  the  evidence  of 
the  best  gunmalcers,  but  that  did  not  settle 
the  question.  Lord  Hardinge  therefore  urged 
Mr.  Whitworth  to  investigate  the  subject,  with 
the  aijcl  of  his  celebrated  appliances  for  accurate 
measurements  and  mechanical  construction.  The 
result  wag  that  an  exhaustive  series  of  experi- 
ments was  conducted  with  great  cure  to  ascer- 
tain the  necessary  data,  and  to  test  the  various 
methods  then  in  use.  When  the  requisite  data 
were  settled  practically,  and  Mr.  Whitworth’s 
methods  of  construction  were  employed,  a 
4C(orre,ct  system  yvas  established.  Twenty  rifles 
on  the  new  principle  were  supplied  for  the 
first  Wiipbiedon  meeting,  and  were  there  sub- 
lpitf-qijl  £o  the  crucial  test  of  a great  public  ex- 
hibition. Lord  ElchO;  a principal  promoter  of 
the  meeting,  desiring  to  give  it  all  the  6clat 
possible,  solicited  Her  Majesty  to  inaugurate 
'the  proceedings  by  firing  the  first  shot,  upon 
which  the  Queen  asked  Lord  Elcho : Shall  1 
be  sure  to  hit  the  bull’s  eye?  His  Lordship 
had  not  been  prepared  for  that  electric  shock, 
and  had  to  retire  td  consult  Mr.  Whitworth  before 
venturing  to  reply.  His  answer  was  prompt : 
“ Tell  Her  Majesty  she  shall  hit  the  bull’s  eye.” 
Cautioned  as  to  the  serious  consequence  of 
failure,  he  repeated  his  assurance,  and  only  asked 
if  -Her  Majesty  might  be  relied  upon  to 
fire  within  five  minutes  of  being  asked  to  do 
so.  Lord  Hlcho,  on  his  part,  answered  for  that. 
The  .Queen  was  satisfied,  and  the  gun  was  laid  by 
Mr.  Whitworth  at  400  yards,  Her  Majesty 
promptly  fired  the  shot  when  asked,  and  up 
went  Lire  .signal  of  a bull’s  eye  on  the  instant ! 
Her  Majesty  gave  a trill  of  joyous  laughter 
and  requested  that  the  target  might  be  brought 
for  her  to  see.  The  one  plate  was  speedily  un- 
screwed and  was  borne  to  the  tent  by  6 or  8 
men.  And  theije  was  the  shot  mark,  within 
half  an  inch  of  the  centre  of  the  bull’s  eye  ! 
Such  are  a few  of  ,the  .triumphs  science  has 
achieved  in  improving  old  processes  in  correcting 
errors  that  had  been  persisted  in  for  ages,  and 
in  showing  the  glorious  possibilities  that  yet 
remain  to  be  explored, 
Hitherto,  the  illustrations  adduced  in  proof  of 
what  science  could  do  for  the  arts  and  manu- 
factures were  all  in  reference  to  improvements 
of  old  processes,  but  it  would  be  an  unpardon- 
able omission  on  my  part  not  to  mention  the 
far  greater  triumphs  science  has  achieved  in  the 
introduction  of  entirely  new  inventions  and 
means  of  material  progress.  During  the  short 
space  of  my  life,  there  have  been  brought  into  use 
Railways,  Telegraphs,  Photography,  Chloroform, 
the  Atomic  Theory,  the  Spectroscope,  Phonogra- 
phy, the  Electric  Light,  and  many  other  things 
which  I cannot  now  remember. 
It  will  not  be  disputed,  in  view  of  these  facts, 
that  technical  teaching  is  entitled  to  the  rank 
of  a special  science,  comprising  the  art  of 
applying  the  principles  of  the  sciences  to  prac- 
tical use  in  the  arts  and  manufactures. 
It  will  be  observed,  however,  that  technical 
science  is  not  equally  applicable  to  all  countries, 
and  therefore  needs  special  adaptation  to  each. 
A distinction,  for  instance,  is  to  be  drawn  be- 
tween old  countries  and  new  ; that  is  between 
countries  in  which  there  is  a dense  population, 
and  where  all  the  available  land  is  in  cultivation, 
and  those  newer  countries  that  are  sparsely 
populated,  and  where  there  are  large  tracts  of 
land  unoccupied  and  available  for  cultivation. 
In  such  countries  as  these,  the  people  would  avail 
themselves  of  natural  resources,  and  would  take 
all  they  could  from  the  soil.  The  United  States 
of  America,  though  not  a very  young  country, 
has  still  vast  tracts  of  available  land  and  compara- 
tively few  inhabitants.  They  therefore  produce 
and  export  raw  materials,  such  as  food  grains, 
cotton,  tobacco,  and  such  like  products.  They 
do  not  yet  engage  largely  in  manufactures.  They 
have  not  yet  reached  that  stage,  Four-fifths  of 
their  .exports  to  Great  Britain  therefore  consist 
of  those  natural  products,  and  only  one-fifth  of 
manufactured  goods.  Great  Britain,  on  the  other 
hand,  exports  scarcely  any  raw  material,  except 
coal  and  iron,  because  they  are  wanted  at  home 
to  feed  her  factories.  But  it  was  not  always  so 
with  England.  There  was  a time  when  the  popu- 
lation of  the  Island  was  sparse,  and  a great  deal 
of  the  land  was  unoccupied.  It  was  then  cele- 
brated for  the  fine  wool  of  its  sheep,  which  was 
for  a long  period  exported  to  Flanders,  where  it 
was  made  up  into  costly  fabrics.  A time  came, 
however,  when  one  of  the  Sovereigns,  I think 
it  was  Edward  the  Third,  sent  over  to  Flanders 
and  imported  a number  of  skilled  workmen, 
weavers,  dyers  and  fullers.  From  that  time 
England  became  a manufacturing  country,  and 
is  so  more  than  ever  in  the  present  day.  By  and 
bye,  our  American  cousins  will  follow  our  ex- 
ample, and  will  get  tired  of  exporting  the  raw 
materials  and  food,  which  they  will  be  able  to 
utilise  themselves. 
It  follows  that  technical  institutions  will  have 
different  functions  in  different  countries,  and  that 
brings  me  to  consider  the  position  and  require- 
| ments  of  Ceylon  ; which  is  old  in  population  and 
in  the  utilisation  of  its  lauds,  but  quite  in  its 
| infancy  as  regards  manufactures.  Here  the  rage 
is  for  higher  education,  and  there  are  crowds  of 
candidates  for  employment  in  the  professions, 
in  the  Government  departments,  and  for  clerk- 
ships. Other  spheres  of  occupation  are  urgently 
wanted,  and  that  soon,  for  the  case  is  pressing. 
