Added  as  a Monthly  Supplement  to  the  “ TROPICAL  AGRICULTURIST.^ 
THE  MAGAZINE 
OF 
TFje  w> 00L  OH  AGRICULTURE, 
COLOMBO. 
Yol.  IV.]  FEBRUARY,  1893.  [No.  8. 
MR.  WALL’S  LECTURE  ON  INVENTIONS. 
(Being  the  last  of  the  series  of 'Marsh  Lectures 
delivered  at  the  Museum  on  the  28th  Nov.  1892.) 
HEN  I delivered  the  first  lecture 
of  this  series,  I had  the  honour 
of  the  patronage  of  the  late  Sir 
Samuel  Grenier,  who  presided 
on  the  occasion,  and  I could  not 
allow  this  occasion  to  pass,  without  paying  a 
tribute  of  respect  to  his  memory.  By  his 
untimely  death  the  Colony  lost  a valuable 
and  eminent  public  servant,  and  a most  estim- 
able man ; but  the  cause  of  Technical  Education 
lost  its  most  powerful,  and  one  of  its  most  In- 
telligent supporters.  To  him  and  the  Honourable 
Mr.  Mitchell  is  due  the  credit  of  whatever  has 
been  done  towards  establishing  a Technical  In- 
stitute on  the  foundation  so  well  and  practically 
laid  by  the  late  Director  of  Public  Instruction, 
Mr.  IT.  W.  Green,  and  strengthened  by  his  suc- 
cessor Mr.  Cull.  The  present  Government  has 
given  substantial  support  to  the  cause  by  its  vote 
of  Ro,000,  for  the  salary  of  a Technical  Teacher  ; 
and  while  acknowledging  our  obligations,  it  would 
be  unpardonable  to  omit  honourable  mention  of 
Mr.  Marsh,  the  originator  of  this  course  of 
lectures,  for  the  service  he  thereby  rendered  to 
the  cause  of  technical  education  and  for  the  prize 
he  connected  with  them. 
In  my  introductory  lecture,  to  which  I have 
just  referred,  it  was  stated  that  the  object  or 
Technical  Tuition  is  the  application  of  the  princi- 
ples of  science  to  useful  pUTJbscs  in  the  arts  and 
manufactures  ; in  other  words,  to  promote  inven- 
tions. For  it  stands  to  i’eason  that  men  do  not 
ransack  the  archives  of  science,  and  exercise  their 
ingenuity  merely  for  the  purpose  of  perpetuating 
old  VRetpods  and  processes,  bt^t  in  order  to  improve 
upon,  or  to  supersede  them  by  new  ones  ; and  that 
can  only  be  done  by  means  of  inventions.  Those 
who  wish  to  pursue  old  methods  for  a living,  will 
in  future,  as  iu  the  past,  betake  themselves  to  mills, 
factories  and  workshops,  where  they  are  pursued 
in  the  way  of  business  ; and  if  technical  instruc- 
tion be  sought,  it  will  only  be  the  better  to  qualify 
them  for  those  employments,  Nevertheless,  there 
are  certain  persons  in  the  community,  who,  either 
from  sheer  opposition  or  from  ignorance,  persist 
in  declaring  that  the  proposed  Technical  Institute 
will  be  no  more  than  a great  big  Industrial  School. 
Argument  would  be  wasted  upon  them. 
It  has  been  said  that  he  who  makes  two  blades 
of  grass  grow  where  only  one  grew  before,  is  a 
public  benefactor,  and  that  is  true,  but  he  must 
also  be  an  inventor.  That  extra  blade  of  grass  will 
not  come  by  invocation,  it  must  be  extorted  from 
the  soil  by  the  application  of  some  adequate 
force,  suggested  by  science,  that  is,  by  means  of 
invention.  In  like  manner,  he  who  makes  two 
bricks,  two  pairs  of  shoes,  or  two  of  any  other  com- 
modity in  place  of  one,  or  if  he  make  the  earns 
things  more  economically  or  supersede  them  by 
something  better,  he  is  also  a benefactor,  who  can 
only  accomplish  any  of  those  useful  purpose*  by 
the  application  of  scientific  principles,  that  is  by 
invention.  Seeing  then  that  the  ultimate  object  of 
all  technical  teaching  is  invention,  it  seems  to  m® 
that  invention  would  be  an  appropriate  subject  for 
this  closing  lecture  of  the  series. 
In  order  that  we  may  all  know  precisely  what 
we  are  talking  about,  it  will  be  advisable,  at  the 
outset,  to  define  what  is  meant  by  the  term  inven- 
tion. In  literature  and  in  common  parlance,  it  is 
usual  to  distinguish  between  discoveries  and  in- 
ventions, but  in  practice  they  are  so  mixed  together, 
that  it  would  be  inconvenient  for  our  present  pur- 
JjtOfS  to  treat  them  separately.  Moreover,  the  lav? 
