20 
TRANSACTIONS OF THE TEXAS ACADEMY OF SCIENCE. 
ment in all its details, had been educated in the colleges and universi- 
ties of that time. But those of whom I speak had not been favored with 
corresponding educational advantages, and I believe that if in the early 
days of the Republic the opportunities for scientific and practical educa- 
tion had been equal to those afforded for training men for the learned 
professions, the advent of the steamboat and rail car would have occurred 
at an earlier date. It was the recognition of the importance of such op- 
portunities that led in after years to the establishment of scientific 
schools, and the earth has been made to give forth her treasures, and 
the forest has yielded its choicest woods to show what art and science can 
do in their victory over inanimate nature. 
Hereafter intelligence more than ever is to be counted as a factor of 
success. Thoughtful men are beginning to appreciate its importance 
to the pressing problems of the future where the possibilities of our 
State defy prophecy. It needs such work as yours to make these possi- 
bilities a living reality. It is practical and material, and will help our 
State to realize her greatness, and to impress her individuality upon the 
history of the times. 
It is like threshing over old straw to say that among the important 
subjects that engrossed the attention of the inventors of early days was 
steam — its properties, adaptations, and possibilities as an agency for 
moviug machinery; and it has been said that the birth of the Republic 
and that of the steam engine were contemporaneous events. We are in- 
formed that the first condensing engine built in this country was con- 
structed by John Fitch, a native of Connecticut, in 1787, with the as- 
sistance of a common blacksmith. This successful experiment by Mr. 
Fitch, who had been favored with only the slightest opportunities for 
an education, made him the world’s pioneer in steam navigation. After 
perfecting his engine and using it to propel a boat on the Delaware river, 
he was forced by adverse fortune to abandon his plans for bringing his 
invention into practical use — not, however, before predicting that some 
better equipped and more fortunate man, inspired by the success al- 
ready attained, would acquire fame and fortune from his invention, and 
that the time would come when large rivers would be navigated by 
steam, and that ships would be propelled across the Atlantic by the same 
agency. This man, as you know, soon appeared in the person of Robert 
Fulton, who transferred steam navigation from the stage of experiment 
to that of a successful agency to promote the convenience and welfare 
of the growing Republic. It was not until he had acquired reputation 
as an inventor that he sought in Paris the scientific training which has 
given him immortality of fame. 
Early in the present century Oliver Evans, a native of Delaware, hav- 
ing previously invented an engine on the high pressure principle, dem- 
