THE LIBRARY OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESENTED BY PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ORGANIZATION OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE A.D. 1824 TO 1874. COMMEMORATIVE EXERCISES AT THE I FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY FRANKLIN INSTITUTE OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR THE PROMOTION OF THE MECHANIC ARTS. HELD ON FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 6, 1874, MUSICAL FUND HALL PHILADELPHIA: HALL OF THE INSTITUTE, SEVENTH STREET BELOW MARKET STREET. 1874. COLUNS, PRINTER, 705 Jayrie Street. INTRODUCTION. AT the stated meeting of the Franklin Institute, held in December, 1873, the president called attention to the fact that an entry in the first minute book showed that during the latter part of the year 1823 preliminary meet- ings were held in the city of Philadelphia, which led to the foundation of the Institute during the early part of 1824. He stated that the propriety of some formal recognition by the Society of the completion of its first fifty years had been discussed among some of its older members. Upon motion of Mr. Hector Orr, a resolution was passed, appointing a committee to consist of five members, including the president of the Institute, as chairman, to devise and carry out an appropriate cele- bration of the Anniversary. The committee consisted of Messrs. Coleman Sellers, Hector Orr, Frederick Fraley, Bloomfield H. Moore, and William P. Tatham. The meeting which had been held on February 5, 1824, having been decided on as the one which most surely marked the permanent foundation of the Institute as a societj*, it was deemed advisable, if possible, to hold the commemorative meeting on that day ; but inasmuch as no suitable hall could be obtained for the evening of 6 the 5th of February, the following day, namely, the 6th, was fixed upon ; and at the meeting of the Institute in January, it was resolved that "When we adjourn we adjourn to meet at the Musical Fund Hall, on the even- ing of February 6th." The meeting was public, and largely attended, in spite of the inclemency of the weather, the evening being marked by one of the heaviest snow-storms of the season. The Programme for the evening was published as follows : FRANKLIN INSTITUTE. 1824-1874. PROGRAMME OF EXERCISES AT THE MUSICAL FUND HALL. FRIDAY EVENING, FEBRUARY 6, 1874. MUSIC. ASSEMBLY CALLED TO ORDER BY MR. COLEMAN SELLERS, President of Franklin Institute. MUSIC. ADDRESS BY HON. FREDERICK FRALEY, Treasurer of Franklin Institute. MUSIC. ADDRESS BY ROBERT E. ROGERS, M.D., Professor of Chemistry in University of Pennsylvania, and Vice-President of Franklin Institute. MUSIC. ADDRESS BY HENRY MORTON, Pn.D., President of Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, N. J. t and late Secretary of Franklin Institute. MUSIC. CLOSING ADDRESS BY MR. COLEMAN SELLERS, President of Franklin Institute. COMMEMORATIVE- EXERCISES FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FRANKLIN INSTITUTE OF THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA FOR THE PRO- MOTION OF THE MECHANIC ARTS. HELD AT MUSICAL FUND HALL, FEBRUARY 6, 1874. AT 7 J P. M. the Board of Managers welcomed the invited guests in the lower room of the hall, and at 8 o'clock precisely, they conducted them to the seats provided for them on the stage. After prelude of music by the orchestra, the President, Mr. COLEMAN SELLERS, called the meeting to order and said: LADIES AND GENTLEMEN : The object of this meet- ing is to commemorate the completion of fifty years of active usefulness of the Franklin Institute. Half a century ago some earnest mechanics met together to found an Institution for the promotion of the mechanic arts. How well the work then started prospered you all know. It has been deemed fitting that the ceremonies of this evening should so far as is possible tell the story of the Society's history, and also indicate the progress made in the arts and sciences during the period of its existence. A society founded so long ago, must of necessity have lost from its roll of living members many of its earliest friends. But few of those who signed their names to the first pages of that honorable list are now living. Of those who remain, some have long since 2 10 withdrawn from active participation in the work of this Institution. Among these was one at whose office some of the preliminary meetings were held. I allude to Mr. George Washington Smith. He was invited to address you this evening, but his failing health prevented, and he now writes : FEBRUARY 5tli, 1874. GENTLEMEN: A severe cold, which confines me to my chamber, w r ill deprive me of the great pleasure of attending the Fiftieth Anniversary of the founding of the now venerable Franklin Institute. I regret this the more, as I am now the only survivor of the original founders of the Society (some months before the meeting, which organized the Society, on the 5th of February, 1824). Some members yet remain of those who joined the Institute at this latter date (at the meeting at the court-house in this city), and also still feel an unabated interest in the welfare of the body which they ushered into existence. I fervently trust that, now we have entered into years of discretion, we shall in the ensuing half cen- tury equal and even surpass the useful labors of the past, and that we will not permit any of our numer- ous progeny in the United States to carry off the palm which has so long decorated our paternal brow and that in the next generation the Centen- nial celebration may have nothing to regret in the comparison with the present. I remain, Gentlemen of the Committee of the Franklin Institute, with great regard, your friend, GEO. WASHINGTON SMITH. To Messrs. SELLERS, TATHAM, FRALEY, MOORE, and ORR. 11 Among those who early joined the Institute was a young man intimate with its early founders ; he alone of all, remains yet in active co-operation in the work of the Society. During the entire period of its existence since his connection with it, he has held prominent position in its board of management. During these years he has taken active part in much that has tended to benefit his fellow citizens. He has been selected to relate the history of the Insti- tute, for he has helped to make that history, and his mature mind has made him a leader in its councils. To-day he stands in our midst, one of our most valued citizens, faithful in all his trusts, and pro- minent in the councils of trade, as he was for years in the council of the State. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with pride I announce him as historian, and introduce to you the Hon. FREDERICK FRALEY, Trea- surer of the Franklin Institute. ADDRESS OF HOX. FREDERICK FRALEY. MR. PRESIDENT: I thank you most cordially for your eloquent and flattering introduction to this meeting. If there were anything calculated to disturb my equanimity, it would be found in the compliments you have paid to me, for my long connection with, and services to the Franklin Institute. But I shall rely on the abundance of my materials, for presenting to this audience in the limited time which your arrange- ments allow, a brief sketch of the history of our Institution. I shall avail myself of the privilege you have so courteously granted me, when prepar- 12 ing my remarks for publication, so to amplify and collate them, that they may in some respects be worthy of this great occasion for our rejoicing. I esteem it a very great honor to have been selected as the historian of the Institute ; and, if I shall fail in words to do full justice to my subject, I shall not fail in feeling that I ought to put into my utter- ances the obligations I personally owe to the In- stitute for the many benefits I have derived from my long connection with it. LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: Upwards of fifty years ago there were two young men residing in the city of Philadelphia, wholly unknown to each other, and in different walks of life, who conceived the same idea, for founding a new institution for diffusing a knowledge of science among mechanics and manufacturers. One of them was the late SAMUEL V. MERBICK, then not quite twenty-one years of age, who had been bred in a merchant's counting-house, and, up to the time of which we are speaking, considered himself devoted to commercial pursuits. But one of those casualties which overturn occasionally business establishments, had fallen upon a firm engaged in the manufacture of fire engines, to whom the uncle of Mr. Mer- rick (the late highly honored and esteemed John Vaughan) had loaned a considerable amount of money, and for which he had been obliged to take the property of the firm. Mr. Vaughan made several unsuccessful efforts to sell the property so acquired, and at length, in despair of getting anything out of it, suddenly said to his nephew, one morning : " Sam, how would you like to be a mechanic?" The youth- 13 ful clerk responded, " Uncle, I am willing to do any- thing you may recommend ;" and behold by a speedy transformation the clerk .changed into a machinist ! Mr. Yaughan immediately formed a partnership be- tween his nephew and the late JOHN AGXEW ; and the firm continued for many years in existence, with very favorable results. But Mr. Merrick, in his new vocation, soon found that he was not a mechanic, and needed information and instruction to make him one. At that time there existed in Philadelphia an association of mechanics, which met at short inter- vals, for the consideration of mechanical and scien- tific subjects, and for mutual improvement by con- versation and discussion. Mr. Merrick sought to become a member of this body, obtained a nomina- tion, but, to his mortification and chagrin, was black- balled. He was in almost daily intercourse with the gentleman who proposed him for membership ; and the subject of his rejection was freely spoken of. This friend was the late WILLIAM KNEASS, of Phila- delphia, then a copper-plate engraver, an artist of much repute and merit in those days ; and after- wards the engraver and die-sinker in the Mint of the United States, which honorable and responsible office he filled for many years. In one of these con- ferences Mr. Kneass said, jestingly : " Why don't you get up a new Institution to suit yourself?" Al- though this was said in jest, our young friend took it to heart, thought over it, and finally called on Mr. Kneass, and exacted from him a promise, that he would attend a meeting for the purpose of con- sidering such a project. Mr. Merrick accordingly called such a meeting, to be held at the hall of the American Philosophical 14 Society ; but no one attended. He renewed his call for another meeting, with the same result; and then, having called on Mr. Kneass to remonstrate with him for his desertion, that gentleman said: "If you are really in earnest about this matter, I will tell you who will help you ;" and he then narrated to him the history of an abortive attempt made some time before by Professor WILLIAM H. KEATING, of the University of Pennsylvania, to establish an in- stitution somewhat like that which had been con- ceived by Mr. Merrick. Professor William II. Keating was the other of the two young men of whom I have just spoken. He had received a thorough liberal education, had graduated with honor at our University, and then went abroad to perfect his scientific training in the polytechnic and mining schools of France and Swit- zerland. He returned full of zeal for the diffusion of science applied to agriculture and the mechanic arts, and the Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania, enter- ing cordially into his views, established a Professor- ship of Chemistry, in its application to Agriculture and the Mechanic Arts, and elected Mr. Keating, then just arrived at manhood, to fill the honorable and novel position. On the subjects of his Chair, Professor Keating delivered several courses of lectures, and opened a laboratory for the instruction of students, in the basement of the old University building, at Ninth Street, between Chestnut and Market Streets. The house had been built as a residence for the Presidents of the United States, by the State of Pennsylvania ; but, not being needed for that purpose, in conse- quence of the removal of the seat of government of 15 the United States to Washington City, it was sold to the University by the State. It was taken down in 1829 to give place to the two College Halls which lately stood on the same site ; and now the venerable institution, in which this start in applied science was first made in our country, has risen in greater glory arid usefulness, in West Philadelphia. While working earnestly in the sphere to which he had been called, Mr. Keating sought to interest his friends and others in an enlarged scheme for scientific instruction; and he also had called meet- ings which proved abortive. He supposed that it was practicable to get the fund given by the Will of Christopher Ludwig (late Baker-General to Gene- ral Washington), for the support of a Charity School, transferred to an institution of higher aims in in- struction. And especially did he hope for this, be- cause, by the public school system then recently established in Philadelphia, the establishment and support of purely charitable schools had been super- seded. But in this praiseworthy attempt he failed, and he and Mr. Merrick were both stranded in their hopes. And now, by the kind intervention of Mr. Kneass, these two ardent men were brought to- gether. Mr. Kneass gave Mr. Merrick a history of Mr. Keating's efforts, and advised him to call and see him. This Mr. Merrick speedily did, and, intro- ducing himself, the kindred spirits went earnestly to work in concert. They compared notes ; looked into the history and objects of the Andersonian Institution at Glasgow ; and finally agreed to make another effort to get a meeting, under the shadow of whose authority they might make an appeal to the public. Such a meeting was accordingly convened, and 16 tradition, and some memoranda, indicate that the following gentlemen attended: SAMUEL Y. MERRICK, THOMAS FLETCHER, MATTHIAS W. BALDWIN, DAVID H. MASON, and ORAN COLTON. A committee was appointed, consisting of some of those present, and of others selected outside, who were supposed to he willing to unite ; and James Roualdson, Samuel R. Wood, Samuel Y. Merrick, M. T. Wickham, W. H. Keating, Thomas Fletcher, and James Rush were appointed to draught a plan of organization, constitution, etc. etc. The preparation of these details was confided to Mr. Merrick, and he states that, when he presented them to Mr. Wood, he said : a Thee need not read them; I arn perfectly willing to adopt them; but thee cannot succeed in establishing thy Institute." Mr. Wood then described to him certain professional jealousies which he said were prevailing in the city; and if either side joined Mr. Merrick in carrying out his plan, it would be sure to be attacked by the other, and thus inevitably become partisan in its character. The small meeting was again convened, the plan approved, and Messrs. Merrick and Keat- ing, nothing daunted, prepared to carry it into exe- cution. They called to their aid Dr. Robert E. Griffith, and George Washington Smith, Esq., who happily still survives to share in the glory of this anniver- sary. And these four young men, taking the Phila- delphia Directory in their hands, selected from it the names of some 1200 to 1600 citizens, whom they thought might possibly take an interest in such a work, and invited them, by circular letters, to attend a meeting to be held at the county court-house, at 17 Sixth and Chestnut Streets, on the evening of the oth of February, 1824, when and where the long cherished project was to be submitted for final ap- proval. I must here pause for a moment to make a brief comment on this history of the labors of the real founders of the Institute. In the year 1866, Mr. Merrick placed in my hands a letter* in which he very amply records his own labors in the good work, and the hearty co-operation he received from Professor Keating. As the time has now come in which I am fully justified in mak- ing that letter public, I shall place a copy of it at the disposal of the Institute for publication, as part of the proceedings of the evening. Professor Keating, so far as I know, never pre- pared any account of his own labors in the great work, and he has left it to tradition, and the memory of loving friends, to give him his proper share of honor. My own acquaintance with both of these noble- hearted and generous men dates from about the year 1823, when I attended the lectures of Professor Keating in the University, and when I was asso- ciated with Mr. Merrick as a member of the Phila- delphia Hose Company, the first hose company that was established in the city, and whose honorable record for many years was the pride and glory of its members. During the whole of the remainder of their lives, I was the intimate friend of both, and it is a gratifi- cation to me of the purest and most exalted character, that I am permitted to stand here, upon this occa- * See letter at close of this article, p. 39. 18 sion, and bear my hearty testimony to their worth and virtues. "We have now reached the time when the public meeting was held. The citizens responded most cor- dially to the call, and the court-house was tilled to overflowing. Mr. JAMES RONALDSON (a Scotchman by birth, but an American in every fibre, who was himself engaged in mechanical pursuits, originally a baker, but then a type founder, doing in that line the most exten- sive business in the United States) was selected to preside. PETER A. BROWNE, Esq., then an eloquent and dis- tinguished member of the Philadelphia bar, made an earnest and effective speech, in which he sketched the plan and purposes of the new Institution, and his speech was warmly applauded. He was followed by others in earnest and eloquent remarks ; a letter was read from NICHOLAS BIDDLE, Esq., then in the acme of his reputation, giving his approval and ten- dering membership and support. The Constitution was submitted, considered, amended, and then unanimously adopted. Lists were then circulated, on which those present enrolled themselves for membership. A committee was appointed to nominate candidates for officers and managers, and to take the needed order for holding an election on the 16th of the same month. At this meeting I enrolled myself as a member, although not quite of age, and have con- tinued that membership to this day, and may w T ith truth say to the Institute, that " nought but death shall part thee and me!" 19 By the time the election was held, the roll con- tained between 400 and 500 members. Mr. Ronaldson was elected President, and held the office until the year 1842. The Board of Managers then chosen, of whom, of course, Merrick and Keating were members, went energetically to work, and soon had the Institute thoroughly organized. Standing Committees on Instruction; on Inven- tions ; on Premiums and Exhibitions ; on the Library ; and on Models and Minerals, were appointed, and took hold of their duties with zeal and earnestness. Professorships of Chemistry ; of Natural Philo- sophy and Mechanics ; and of Architecture, were forthwith established, and respectively filled by the election of Professor Keating to the first, Professor Robert M. Patterson to the second, and William Strickland, Esq., to the third. And here I may be permitted to pause and say a word about the University of Pennsylvania, and its ancient and continued interest in and aid to the Institute. Profs. Keating and Patterson both held chairs in that Institution, when they were called into our service, and from that day to the present time our relations to the University have been cordial and complete, for of her gifted Professors we have had, in addition to those already named, Alex. Dallas Bache, John F. Frazer, Henry Reed, and Roswell Park, and from her Medical Department, Professors Hare, James Rogers, and Robert E. Rogers. The first course of lectures was delivered in the old Academy building, on Fourth, near Arch Street, belonging to the University of Pennsylvania ; the use of the building being granted to us by the trustees. 20 In addition to the lectures on the subjects above named, there were a number of volunteer lectures, delivered by members of the Institute, on various subjects connected with science and the arts. The foundations thus laid for instruction were rapidly enlarged, and to those like myself, who have been of them and in them for half a century, their proportions and usefulness have been really wonder- fui. Soon a school, in which should be taught archi- tectural and mechanical drawing, was established, and it was rapidly filled with pupils. Among the earliest of these was my friend, who is now sitting on the platform, almost as venerable-looking as my- self, THOMAS U. WALTER, Esq., then a young brick- layer, but, thanks to that school, afterwards the ac- complished and successful architect of the Girard College, then Professor of Architecture in the Insti- tute, and finally commending himself and his works to posterity as the architect of the Capitol at Wash- ington. But, not content with this special school, the Managers determined to establish another, in which all the useful branches of English Literature and mathematics, and the ancient and modern lan- guages should be taught : in short, a high school. This was placed under the charge of WALTER R. JOHNSON, Esq., with able assistants, and was soon filled with pupils. The Drawing School has been very successfully continued down to the present day, and is now more flourishing than ever before, but the High School was discontinued after a few years' time upon the resignation of Mr. Johnson. By this time the public schools of the city had been much 21 improved by the introduction of new methods of in- struction, and the establishment of the Central High School of Philadelphia supplied all the needs that our High School was intended to provide for. The Depart- ment of Instruction, with various changes and en- largement of the features, has continued in successful operation down to the present time. Its Professors of Chemistry have been W. H. Keating, Franklin Bache, John K. Mitchell, and John F. Frazer, men who were remarkable for the extent of their knowl- edge, and whose names are identified with the sci- entific reputation of our city. With the same hon- orable and enduring notice we place here the names of our Professors of Natural Philosophy and Me- chanics, Robert M. Patterson, Thomas P. Jones. Walter E. Johnson, and John C. Cresson. My space will not permit me to name all their successors, who, taking up their mantles, have won, and are continu- ing to win, laurels in the same fields. Nor can I be- gin to make a list of those who have contributed by valuable lectures to fill up more effectually the meas- ure of useful instruction that we have diffused. But I see one of them now near me, the venerable Dr. Gouverneur Emerson, who fully forty years ago de- livered a course on meteorology the first of that character, probably, in this country, and who since then has kept up his interest and knowledge of that important part of atmospheric science, and has lived to witness, in the establishment of the Signal Service Bureau of the United States, the recognition and utility of the infant science he was then aiding in ushering into life. The Committee on Inventions soon became a cen- tre from which radiated the most useful and interest- 22 ing results. The late ISAIAH LUKENS, a distinguished mechanician, was for many years its chairman, and, with the Professors in the Institute, and such asso- ciates as Alexander Dallas Bache, Benjamin Reeves, Samuel V. Merrick, Rufus Tyler, Matthias W. Bald- win, John Agnew, George Washington Smith, John Wiegand, and others, gave wise counsel to inventors, put them in the way of knowing what had previ- ously been accomplished, saved them from the loss of money and of reputation, by showing them when their inventions were not new ; and when any matter of real novelty or value was presented, endorsing it most heartily with their approval, and giving that potential aid which would almost certainly secure public recognition and reward. This committee continued its labors as originally constituted for many years, and upon its suggestions committees were raised for investigating the various forms of water-wheels, for giving economical value to water-power. On this subject, experiments of great number, and on almost every form of water motor then known, were made, and the results tabulated and commented on in such an exhaustive manner that the report continues to this day to be a most valuable text- book on water-power. Following this, and in the same lead of practical usefulness, a committee was raised to investigate the causes of explosion on steam-boilers, and in this in- vestigation, the Institute succeeded in getting the co-operation of the government of the United States, an appropriation for defraying the cost of the expe- riments being made by Congress. But no part of the money so appropriated was paid as compensation 23 to the experimenters. These were all volunteers, devoting many months of valuable time to the inves- tigation, and ascertaining most valuable facts, which have since been utilized for the benefit and safety of the public. Connected with these experiments on explosions caused by steam, came almost naturally an investi- gation of the strength of materials. For this pur- pose, the committee devised testing apparatus of various forms, and applied them in the most exten- sive and crucial way to the metals, and materials of all kinds used in machines, steam-boilers, buildings, and other branches of the useful arts. The reports on explosions, and on the strength of materials, were published also, and are of equal reputation and use as those on water-power. The Committee on Inventions was subsequently abolished, and in its place was established the " Committee on Science and Arts." This committee was intended to cover not only the ground originally occupied by the Committee on Inventions, but to embrace a wider field, and to interest in its operation a larger number of members. Every one, therefore, who felt an interest in developing the domains of invention or science, was invited to enroll himself as a member, and thereby to pledge himself to devote his time and knowledge to the service of the com- mittee, and through it to the public. This volun- tary association still exists ; and its long course of labors and usefulness is attested by its memoirs, and by the vast number of reports made on inventions and other matters submitted to its scrutiny. And this seems a fitting place to introduce the name of one of the most illustrious of our members, Alexan- 24 der Dallas Bache. He was the great-grandson of the world-renowned Dr. BENJAMIN FRANKLIN ; and in many traits of character resembled his great ances- tor. After receiving a sufficient preliminary educa- tion to fit him for it, he was appointed a Cadet in the Military Academy of the United States at West Point, and graduated there, after his four years' course, with distinguished honor. He was duly appointed a second-lieutenant in the artillery corps, and placed in charge of the construction of some of the forts in the New England States. A vacancy having occurred in the Professorship of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy in the University of Penn- sylvania, he was elected to the chair, and removed to Philadelphia. He soon joined the Institute, and became one of its most prominent and useful members. Hs served on the Committees of Instruc- tion, Inventions, Publications, and Exhibitions. His knowledge was great, and his aptitude for applying it wonderful. He became, as it were, a centre around which every department of the Institute could revolve^ and, like that other great centre, the sun, he had the faculty of controlling, and keeping in harmony and efficient working order, all who came within his in- fluence. To him, the investigations on water-power, ex- plosions of steam, and strength of materials, owe much of their value. He supervised the reduction of the results of experiments, tabulated them, and mainly prepared the reports. To his efforts the organization of the Committee on Science was mainly due. He presided over it for many years, and by his skill and wisdom in selecting 25 its sub-committees, rendered it useful and powerful. After a long service with us, and with the University, and after having laid the foundations for instruction in the Girard College for Orphans, and for the Cen- tral High School, he left us to accept the appoint- ment of Superintendent of the Coast Survey of the United States. In this new Held of labor and useful- ness he was the same patient, devoted, and successful worker, and brought that great national work up to a state of accuracy and comprehensiveness that has challenged the admiration of the world. Until death, he was the warm friend and earnest advo- cate of the Institute. He was my early schoolmate ; the affectionate friend and associate of my manhood ; and his virtues and worth are among the most pre- cious of my memories. One of the methods adopted by the Institute for the promotion of the mechanic arts was to reward inventors, manufacturers, and mechanics, by the dis- tribution of medals and premiums. To this end, the Committee on Premiums and Exhibitions was ap- pointed. It very soon announced that an Exhibition of American Manufactures would be held in the city of Philadelphia, and published a long list of pre- miums that would then be awarded. A very exten- sive circulation of this intention was given by letters addressed to those whose interests would be promoted by the Exhibition, and also by advertisements to direct public attention to the undertaking. It was held in the Carpenters' Hall, in Philadelphia, in the autumn of 1824, and was crowned with complete success. It attracted large crowds of people, who hitherto had had no conception of the extent and 3 26 variety of our home productions, and reacted in many curious and unexpected ways to bring pro- ducers and consumers together, and to diffuse a knowledge of our domestic skill and resources. These Exhibitions were continued at short intervals for many years, and grew in public favor and usefulness; but were suspended a few years ago in consequence of an inability to get a hall of sufficient size for a proper display. It would be impossible to estimate the value of these Exhibitions, for it is only those who, from year to year, watched the progress of manu- factures in the United States, as their products were brought together in friendly competition on our tables, that can realize the astonishing developments of our industry which have marked the half century now closed. The Institute, having secured, for an Ex- hibition to be held in the autumn of the present year, by the liberality of the Pennsylvania Railroad Com- pany, a building of ample size, and in a most favor- able location, will resume this well-tried part of its system of operations, and in the coming display, lay the groundwork, and stimulate preparation for the great Centennial International Exhibition, which in 1876 is to commemorate the hundredth anniversary of our existence as a nation. "Without a library, the Institute would have been but half armed ; and soon, under the auspices of the committee charged with attention to that feature of the Institution, books began to take their places on our shelves, to accumulate, to be used, and gradually to assume the numbers and variety which now cha- racterize our large and valuable collection. In natural connection with the library comes the Journal. At the outset, the pecuniary means of 27 the Institute were too limited to permit it to venture alone on such a publication. But an arrangement was made with THOMAS P. JOXES, Esq., then Pro- fessor of Xatural Philosophy and Mechanics, to edit and publish a periodical devoted to science and the arts, under the title of the Franklin Journal. In this form, and with limited aid from our treasury, the publication was continued until 1828, when the Institute assumed the responsibility of continuing it, under the title of The Journal of the Franklin Institute ; and so it has continued to this time. Of the great value of the Journal, in diffusing information of varied character, on subjects of science and the arts, you, who have had the best opportunities for judging, can make a proper esti- mate. I will only say that, to have stood the tests of competition, active and extensive as they have been, furnishes pretty strong proof that it has been well and ably managed ; and although its balance sheets do not show an absolute profit in money, the results of its exchanges are on your bookshelves, and are of far more worth than mere money. And now let us stop for a moment to pay a passing tribute to the memory and worth of an old officer of the Institute, to whom the Journal was as the apple of his eye. You all recollect WILLIAM HAMILTON, for nearly half a century our loved and trusted Actuary. He went in and out before us for this long period, the very embodiment of our Franklin Institute. I be- came a member of the Board of Managers just after his election in the year 1828. With the exception of a few years I have been Treasurer or Secretary during his whole term, and 28 these offices brought me into almost daily intercourse with Mr. Hamilton. And I may truly say that I have often marvelled at the devotion which charac- terized him in our service. The interests of the Institute seemed to be the blood that circulated in his arteries and the marrow of his bones. Rarely affected by illness, he was always at his post ; he knew every detail of our working move- ments : he was ready to produce book, report, ac- count, or model, at any call ; he seemed to know every member ; he maintained his good temper and courtesy when often sorely tried ; and, by his kind- heartedness and good management, kept many from straying from our fold. He was scrupulously honest and trustworthy ; and all his thoughts and actions were regulated and controlled by a simple religious and conscientious spirit. No one who knew him thoroughly could fail to love and honor him. He seemed, at his fourscore years, to have scarcely lost the vigor and elasticity of his manhood ; and, within a week of his death, he was discharging every duty of his office as carefully and with as much love and interest as ever. He was a loving and faithful servant ; and deserves our gratitude and enduring remembrance. The editors of the Journal have been Thomas P. Jones, A. D. Bache, Charles B. Trego, John F. Frazer, Henry Morton, and William II. Wahl ; and as this sketch is going through the press, Professor George F. Barker of the University has assumed that duty. Among the early committees we find that on Models and Minerals, and, thanks to its labors, we have quite a respectable collection of both ; and had 29 we space for more, the contributions of willing in- ventors and friends would no doubt be large. In our collection are to be found some curious and interesting specimens of ingenuity. One of these is the mode.1 of a machine for producing perpetual motion. This is the work of Isaiah Lukens, before men- tioned as Chairman of the Committee on Inventions. He was also one of the early Yice-Presidents. Some of the older of my audience will recollect the excite- ment caused by the announcement that a Mr. Red- heffer had discovered the perpetual motion. Mr. Lukens visited the place of the exhibition of Red- heffer's machine, and, after a brief examination, dis- covered the trick. Returning to his workshop he immediately constructed a machine in imitation of Redheffer's, but with. the motor concealed in a different way. He then sent for Redheffer, informed him that he had discovered his trick and fraud, told him that the machine before him was also a fraud, arid challenged him to point it out, which Redheffer ineffectually tried to do, and gave up in despair. But the labors and services of the Institute were not bounded by what we have been describing. The lectures of Mr. JAMES P. ESPY, and his essays on meteorology, and the theories adverse thereto of Redfield and others, caused a large share of public attention to be directed to that subject. Dr. Emer- son had awakened our members many years before to its importance ; and the Legislature of Pennsyl- vania made a liberal appropriation for the purchase of instruments, and for the collection of facts by observers in all parts of the State. The purchase of instruments, the organization of 30 the corps of observers, and the tabulation and publi- cation of the results, and the whole expenditure of the appropriation, were placed in charge of the Insti- tute. The fund was carefully managed, and for a number of years monthly tables of the observations were published in the Journal. Subsequently, the Institute was requested by the State Legislature to examine and report upon our system of weights and measures. A special committee was called, which thoroughly went through the work, and, upon its report, the law was enacted which is now in force for the commonwealth. The general interest created by the existence and working of the Institute caused more attention to be paid to technology and to science generally ; and gave rise to a movement for the establishment of a school of arts in the year 1837. The Institute headed this movement, and applied to the councils of the city for a grant of a large plot of ground in West Philadelphia as a site for the buildings of the proposed school. This was promptly and cheerfully granted, and the Legislature was appealed to by memorials from all parts of the State, to endow the school by a liberal appropriation. The House of Representatives passed the bill for this purpose, but immediately reconsidered its action, the members seeming to be alarmed at their own courage in venturing so far out of the old paths. It was well understood, then, that if the bill had reached the Senate it would have been promptly passed ; and Governor Ritner had promised to give it his approval. The seed then planted was watched with care, and efforts were often made to resuscitate 31 the enterprise. It was finally taken up by the trus- tees of the University, among whom are to be found now a number of the active members of the Insti- tute ; and, by the cordial concurrence and aid of Dr. Charles J. Stille, the Provost, the Department of Science was established in the University on a most comprehensive basis, and is now in successful opera- tion. Thus it has been that the philanthropic efforts of Merrick and Keating to start our Institute were crowned with such complete success. As I have before stated, the first course of lectures was delivered in the old Academy Building on Fourth Street. The Institute very soon rented the lower story of the Old Carpenter's Hall, in the rear of Chestnut Street, east of Fourth Street, a place rendered memorable and almost sacred by the sessions of the first Continental Congress. By this time we felt so sure of our hold on the public, that we determined to build a hall, and, to carry out this intention, a purchase was made of the lot on Seventh Street between Market and Chestnut Streets. The corner-stone was laid with appropriate Masonic and other ceremonies, on the eighth day of June, 1825, at noon, and the edifice w,as erected by con- tract, from plans and estimates furnished by John Haviland, Esq., the architect. We were obliged to have an eye to revenue from the building, and to aid us in that, then important matter, an agreement was made with the United States, that we would arrange and finish the second story so that it might be occu- pied as a court-room, and offices for the Circuit and District Courts. When the building was completed, a lease was accordingly made for a term of years at 32 $1500 per annum. But after a short occupancy, this lease was cancelled, as it was found to be incon- venient for members of the bar to be so far from the county court-house at Sixth and Chestnut Streets. The United States then agreed to give up the premises, and to pay $900 per annum for the re- mainder of the term, and the city rented them the second story of Independence Hall. The building was completed, and we entered into the Occupancy of all except the second story in 1826, and then began to feel that w r e had got out of our " long clothes." On the cancellation of the lease to the United States, we obtained possession of the whole build- ing ; and therein, all the manifold labors of the In- stitute have been conceived and carried into execu- tion. This dear old hall is associated with so many pleasant and useful memories, that whenever re- moval to a new building has been agitated, it has given rise to strong emotions. But it has so happened that the intention of re- moval has several times been seriously considered. It very nearly culminated in the year 1836, when the Masonic Hall property on Chestnut Street west of Seventh Street was purchased by the Institute for the sum of $110,500. Plans for a new and enlarged hall were prepared by William Strickland, Esq., architect, aided by a committee of the Institute. A plan for a building loan was adopted, and a part of it subscribed for, which enabled the Institute to pay the first instal- ment of the purchase- money. But the great finan- cial crash of May, 1837, struck our project down, 33 and after vainly struggling for several years to carry it out, we had at last to surrender it, and at a fear- ful loss of many thousands of dollars. At different times since, projects of removal have been started, but grown wise by the experience of 1837, we have not been again tempted into any uncertain contracts. The old hall has been modified and improved in its interior; and, although small and inconvenient in some respects for our present wants, will not hastily be abandoned. Mr. James Ronaldson served as President until January, 1842, when he resigned ; but he maintained his interest in the Institution until he died, and gave it by his will a legacy of five hundred dollars. He was succeeded by Samuel V. Merrick, the ac- knowledged Founder of the Institute, and the man above all others who impressed on it at the beginning, nearly all of its practical features, as Keating did those for its science. Mr. Merrick held the office of President until January, 1855, when he resigned. But his resignation of office did not sever him from active duty. As in the beginning, so through- out his whole life, every faculty he enjoyed, every hour that was needful for its service, time, talents, and money, were always ready for the Institute. And if asked to point "out his monument, standing in our hall, we should reply " Circumspice" Mr. Merrick was succeeded in the Presidency by John C. Cresson. My relations to Mr. Cresson make it difficult for me to speak of his merits and services. He was elected a member in 1834. He had early in life chosen agriculture for a profession, and, in pre- paring for it, after receiving a good classical educa- 34 tion, he paid considerable attention to the study of chemistry, natural philosophy, and mechanics. He attended the lectures of Professor Keating in the University in 1823. Very soon after his election as a member, he relinquished his agricultural pursuits, and engaged in commercial business in the city. He became an active and useful member of our import- ant committees. Shortly after the Philadelphia gas-works were built, under the charge of Mr. Merrick, as engineer; Mr. Cresson was appointed superintendent of the works, and subsequently engineer. He gave such evidence of his thorough knowledge of natural phi- losophy and mechanics that he was elected Professor in 1837, and held that office for several years. On the resignation of Professor Bache as Chair- man of the Committee on Science and the Arts, Professor Cresson was elected its chairman, and still holds that place. As the worthy coadjutor, friend, and associate of Merrick, Keating, Bache, and the other active members of the Institute, he was con- sidered the fittest man to succeed Mr. Merrick. His able administration was universally recognized, and he occupies a high and honorable place in our records and history. He declined a re-election in 1864, and WILLIAM SELLERS, Esq., was chosen his successor. Under the administration of this estimable and distinguished mechanical engineer a new impulse was given to the career of the Institute. The plan of organization was modified, and a large sum was raised by Mr. Sellers and his friends to reduce the debt, to repair and alter the hall, and to bring the Institution into more effectual contact with manu- 35 facturers and mechanics. Professor HENRY MORTON, who was winning an enviable reputation as a physi- cist and lecturer, was chosen Secretary ; and with a liberal salary and enlarged powers was made its chief executive officer. He was also entrusted with the editorship of the Journal, and, until his election as President of the "Stevens Institute," devoted his rare abilities to our service. It is with great pleasure that I see him here on this occasion, to unite with us in proclaiming the advantages of such institutions. One of the principal changes made by the advice of Mr. Sellers and his friends was to have the whole of our property represented by stock, the shares of which could be purchased at a moderate price, and giving the privileges of membership transferable for the benefit of heirs or purchasers. The introduction of these new elements of strength was hailed with much pleasure by those who had held offices for so many years. Death had diminished the number of the old associates, and age and physical infirmity were depriving them of their ancient ardor and zeal. But they were still ready, with their old attach- ment, to aid with their counsel and presence these new and active workers ; and the Institute was strengthened and benefited by the combination of such elements. Mr. Sellers declined a re-election in 1868, and was succeeded by JOHN YAUGHAN MERRICK, Esq., the eldest son of the distinguished Founder. He in- herited all the interest so long held by his father, and energetically carried out the new and enlarged policy. He declined a re-election in January, 1870, and was succeeded by COLEMAN SELLERS, Esq., who now 36 holds the office, and is ably and faithfully discharg- ing its duties. He is also by profession a mechanical engineer, and has won, by his ingenuity and skill, an honor- able name in his profession. In making up this record of our Presidents, it is a remarkable fact that they have all been characterized by the possession of rare gifts of administration and of public confidence. JOHN SCOTT, a chemist of Edinburgh, gave by his will to the corporation of the city .of Philadelphia a legacy for the establishment of a premium, to be given by a medal and money to the inventors of anything new or useful. In the year 1834, the city councils placed the awarding of the Scott's Legacy Medal and Premium in the hands of the Institute, and it has so faithfully and carefully discharged that duty that its stewardship still continues. In the year 1848, the late ELLIOTT CRESSON, Esq., placed in the charge of trustees a sufficient sum of money to provide a gold medal, which was to be awarded by the Institute to the inventor of any new or useful discovery. As this premium is to be given only for matters of real novelty and merit, it is, of course, rarely issued. The first recipient of it was Gen. Benjamin C. Tilghrnan, Esq., of Philadel- phia, the discoverer of the application of the sand blast, for a variety of useful and ornamental pur- poses. And in 1859,. URIAH A. BOYDEN, of Boston, Mass., placed in charge of the Institute the sum of one thousand dollars, to be awarded to " any resident of North America who shall determine by experi- ment whether all rays of light, and other physical 37 rays, are or are not transmitted with the same velocity." The claim to be made in the form of an essay, announcing the result and its manner of ascertainment, to be presented before the first day of January, 1873. The awarding of this premium was placed in the hands of a committee. Several essays were received, but no one of them was considered of sufficient merit to entitle k to the prize. Mr. Boyden has generously allowed the premium to remain with the Institute, in the hope that it may be earned by some worthy mathematician. Having now brought this historical sketch clown to the present time, we may be permitted to linger a little while over our personal experiences, and to bear our testimony to the many advantages we have enjoyed from our connection with the Institute. Speaking for myself, I may say, most truly, that it has been to me my school of schools. As an original member, and then a very young man, I was imme- diately associated with the founders, and with those older and accomplished men who had joined with them. Together we walked for over forty years, not in the wilderness but by pleasant paths, study- ing by the way all that was new and useful in science and the arts, and accumulating priceless treasures of knowledge. My friend, Professor Robert E. Rogers, is about to follow me with the wonderful record of the .pro- gress of science in the last half century. Modern physical science has been made within that time, and, as each brilliant discovery was announced in chemistry, physics, or mechanics, it was brought into our field in the hall of the Institute, and the 38 band of brothers there assembled lovingly together made themselves, in their respective walks, masters of the new discoveries; and in not a few instances enlarged and perfected their applications. I am thankful that for the half century I have been an active member of the Institute, I owe to its teach- ings and their influence on my mind very much of the knowledge and information that have given any useful influence to my life ; and my earnest prayer for the young members of it is, that they shall de- rive as much advantage from its teachings as I have realized. I see around me here to-night some of the original members, and others who were speedily enrolled. As I entered this hall, I was greeted by one of the original members, Mr. GEORGE S. LANG, with vivid reminders of our first meeting at the county court-house in February 1824. Here also I see on this platform the venerable forms of my friends, Henry C. Carey, David S. Brown, Gouverneur Emer- son, Thomas U. Walter, and Hector Orr, earty and earnest laborers in the fields I have been describing. The numbers of the Old Guard are gradually diminishing, but the golden cord that has bound us together so long still encircles the survivors. Of the illustrious dead, how shall I venture to make up the record? Merrick, Keating, Patterson, Strickland, Bache, Peale, Frazer, Lukens, Baldwin, Tyler, were chiefs on the roll of the departed. George Washington Smith, Carey, Emerson, Cres- son, Wiegand, Booth, Roberts, Trego, still survive, with their love for the Institute undiminished by age. Did space permit, I might swell to a large extent this list of devoted men; but I content myself with the types I have selected, and say in all sincerity, of 39 those not named, that the working force of the In- stitute was imbued with the spirit of such chiefs. I now close my attempt to place before you a his- tory of the Institute. It has honorably lived for half a century; it is again endowed with the invigoration of youth and earnestness; it has all the experience of the past in its treasure house ; it has all the bright promise of the future for its encouragement. As we now rejoice over what we have accom- plished, so may those who come after us celebrate with even more fervor its CENTENNIAL. And, when the hundred years are ended, may new hands keep our banner up, waving, in glorious pride, over new victories won for the benefit and improvement of mankind, and cheer the old Institute onward, with the well-earned cry of Esto Perpetua ! LETTER OF MR. MERRICK TO MR. FRALEY. PHILAD., 11 Sept. 1866. DEAR FRALEY Reflecting upon our little talk on old times this morning, I have concluded that justice to myself and other friends connected with the early history of the Franklin Institute, calls for such informa- tion as you seem to need in relation to its origin. In this I may subject myself to a charge of egotism ; but I think you know me well enough to acquit me of any intentional wrong to any one. I look back on the incipiency of that Institution, feeling that if I had done nothing else in my life, I should have something to be proud of in the part I took in its founding. You know that I was reared in a counting-house, and destined to a mercantile life. Circumstances which need not be detailed changed its objects ; and at an age before maturity I found myself an owner of a workshop, without a mechanical education and with scarcely a mechanical idea. 40 On contemplating the position thus assumed I was made aware of two facts: that without knowledge I could not succeed, while it was too late again ^to go to school ; and, secondly, that as a me- chanic I was socially degraded, for in those days, as people des- pised mere mechanics, my own position shared that of my class. There existed at that time a society of mechanics who statedly met for discussion and mutual improvement, into which I desired admission for the same object. Being proposed, I was black- balled under the influence of personal ill-will entertained by a prominent member. Well acquainted with Mr. Win. H. Kneass, engraver, who occupied a shop in Fourth St., in my daily work I frequently called for friendly chat. Mr. K. had proposed me to the Asso- ciation, and was much annoyed at the issue of the vote. Discussing the matter with him one day with no very pleasant feelings, he jestingly asked me why I did not start a new society having a wider field of usefulness. I was very young and had but a limited acquaintance ; yet after a night's reflection I determined to act on his suggestion, though I knew he was not serious. With this view I called a meeting at the Philosophical Hall of some fifteen or twenty gentlemen who I supposed would take an interest in so useful a movement. The night of meeting came, and no one responded to the call. After talking the matter over the next day with several who professed an interest in the project, I called a second meeting, with a similar result. A further conference with Mr. Kneass was the consequence of the second failure ; to whom I complained that he had not kept his appointment. He then said seriously that he thought I was wasting my time. That it was impossible to unite the mechanics of Philadelphia in such an enterprise, and I had better abandon the idea. I replied that I had a better opinion of the public spirit of Philadelphia, and that I was determined to succeed. He replied that as I was bent on going forward, he would tell me where I was likely to get help. He then gave me an account of the above abortive movement in the same direction which had been made the year before ; and stated that William H. Keating, a young professor, had been secretary of those meetings, and had showed much interest in the success of the plan ; and that I would find Mr. Keating at the University in Ninth Street. 41 I called on Mr. Keating, introduced myself, stated the object of my visit, and asked of him the history of the last failure, and if he would join me in the present movement. Mr. Keating cor- dially responded and entered heartily into my views. He gave all the information required as to the former attempt and failure ; and an account of the Andersonian Institute of Glasgow, on which it was proposed to model, in some respects, the new Institution. After perusing these documents, we had several interviews, during which we agreed upon a name, and sketched a programme of the purposes we proposed to incorporate in the new Institution. It was then agreed, as a point-d' -appui was necessary, to call a small meeting which would by proper action give an official start to the machine. Accordingly I summoned a third meeting, to which four gentlemen responded. Its action was confined to the passage of a resolution approving the design, and to the ap- pointment of a committee to carry out the idea by public meeting or otherwise. The minute of this meeting is the managers' book, and it con- sisted of five persons. The correctness of names is somewhat in doubt, as none were taken down at the time, but those which appear were appended some years afterwards from a memoran- dum in the hands of the chairman. This is, however, of no conse- quence, as they did not project or found the Institute, but merely passed formal resolutions on which the founders acted. Having thus obtained the official authority of a meeting, the committee was convened. Mr. S. K. Wood and myself were ap- pointed a sub-committee to draft a constitution. This labor fell to my share, and when ready Mr. Wood was called to revise and adopt it, ready for the general committee. When commencing to read the draft Mr. Wood stopped me and said, " Thee need not read that paper. I have no doubt it is all right, and I will agree to report it ; but I want to satisfy thee that this Institution can never succeed and had better be aban- doned." I then listened to a long explanation of the quarrel between two rival architects, and learned that there existed such a feud be- tween them and their respective friends that in his opinion they could never coalesce ; and If either party took up the proposed plan, the Institute would be partisan in its character, and be opposed by the other. I name this to show the obstacles thrown ?n the way of the 4 42 incipient Institution, and I think that was the real reason for the failure the year before. Unconvinced by Mr. Wood's reasoning, the draft of the con- stitution was reported and adopted by the committee at large, which also agreed upon its presentation for final adoption to a public meeting to be convened for the purpose of forming an as- sociation. Determined that the Institute should not be smothered by rival interests, Mr. Keating and myself, aided by Dr. R. E. Griffith and G. W. Smith, who were deeply interested in its success, had circulars printed to the number of 12 or 1500. One of us read from the Directory probable names, and the others addressed the notes to every person who from his occupation would be likely to favor the movement. These notes were distributed through the post-office, and the result was the assembling of more citizens than could be crowded into the county court-house, the place agreed on. This meeting, of which no record exists within my knowledge, was presided over by James Ronaldson, Esq., and after the pur- poses of the proposed Institution had been fully explained by Col. P. A. Browne and others, an animated discussion took place until the subject was fully understood by a highly intelligent as- sembly, who unanimously accorded their approbation of the pur- pose in view. After which the constitution w r as presented, criti- cally discussed, and after amendment was unanimous^ adopted, and a day fixed for the election of officers from those w r ho should previously enroll their names, and which numbered some three to four hundred. The election having taken place, the Franklin Institute assumed its position among the Institutions of the State, find has since attained a gratifying pre-eminence. The meeting was a perfect success ; and the novel mode of throwing the Association open to the world without the interven- tion of cliques, made it universally popular. I have been, perhaps, more minute in details than would be proper for a public purpose, but having prepared them for your eye, it may be pardoned. I simply desire to secure a record of these proceedings some- where, and therefore request that, when you have perused this, you will consign it to one of your " pigeon holes" for future re- ference, if occasion should occur. Yours truly, S. V. MERRICK. 43 AFTER the music had ceased, which followed Mr. Fraley's address, the President announced the next speaker, saying that, in seeking for some one to speak on the progress of the arts and sciences during the period comprised in the existence of the Franklin Institute, it was but natural that the committee should look to the University of Pennsylvania for a fitting person. The teachers of that great school have been prominent in our scientific work, so that some- how the two institutions seem almost as if connected. Thus, the Professor of Chemistry in the medical de- partment of the University is also a vice-president of the Franklin Institute; being himself not only a chemist and physician, but has shown himself to be a mechanic too in the highest sense of the word ; he has made himself familiar with the progress of the mechanic arts, and knows well the part played by the sciences in that progress. I now introduce to the audience Dr. ROBERT E. EOGERS, Vice-President of the Franklin Institute. ADDRESS OF PROF. ROBERT E. ROGERS. MR. PRESIDENT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN: For a country which will two years hence cele- brate only its first ONE HUNDREDTH ANNIVERSARY as a Nation, occasions like the present are rare and of peculiar interest. Fifty years ago, the Franklin Institute of Phila- delphia pledged itself to the sciences and the arts ; on that occasion it promised them its love and de- votion ; during the interval that has since elapsed 44 they have lived together in happy companionship. To-night we celebrate their GOLDEN WEDDING. Permit me, Mr. President, to thank you cordially for the words of compliment with which you have introduced me, and to express my high sense of the honor which the Institute has bestowed in assigning to me the responsible and difficult duty which I am called upon this evening to perform. This honor I should have felt myself constrained to decline, in view of the almost unlimited range of the theme and an oppressive consciousness of insufficient time amid my other labors for the preparation of anything worthy of the occasion, but for the assurance of friends, that all allowance will be made for any short-comings. I have, therefore, con- sented to attempt to sketch, in brief outline, some of the more important discoveries in science, and improvements in the arts, which have been made during these past fifty years within the lifetime of the Franklin Institute. A little more than a hundred years ago, the genius of Watt produced a marvel in the shape of a practical steam engine ;(!)* and Fulton, and Stevens, and others in this country had, a little later, made successful application of it on rivers and lakes. But it was left for the period we are here met to com- memorate to spread the network of the iron rail, almost over the surface of the globe; and to intro- duce the Locomotive not, it is true, in its perfect form, but in those two vital features which, in 1829, were successfully applied by Robert Stephenson namely, the injection of the exhaust steam into the * All the references in the text refer to the notes in the Ap- pendix. 45 smoke-stack, and the multitubular form of boiler ; the former originating in the fertile brain of Ste- phenson, the latter, it is stated, the suggestion of Mr. Booth, who was then in the interest of the Liver- pool and Manchester Railway Company; inventions which alone give to the machine that steam-generat- ing power adequate to fulfil the requirements of trade and travel, and which, to this day, have not been superseded. (2)* Who has not read, with enthusiastic admiration, of the competitive trial on the Liverpool and Man- chester Railway, of the Rocket, the Novelty, and the Sans Pareil, of October, 1829, in which the former, that of Stephenson, so triumphantly took the prize ? At this period it had been ascertained that, on level tracts and with moderate loads, the tires of the driving wheels might be smooth. The next result to be accomplished was to dis- pense with cog-wheels and notched rails, stationary engines and inclined planes, and to enable the loco- motive not only to draw at high speed its ponderous train of cars over the level track, but also to climb steep grades by a power within itself. This was effected by the discovery made quite within the period we note, that by sufficiently loading the en- gine over the driving wheels, and by increasing the number of the driving wheels, their adhesion is ren- dered adequate to overcome the increased resistance due to gravity, and to enable it thereby with almost equal facility to cross the mountain as to traverse the plain.(3) Much credit is due to Mr. Moncure Robinson for * This is the usually accepted history of these improvements. For another statement see note 2 of Appendix. 46 his zeal and perseverance in urging the introduction into the service of the Reading Railroad of this class of locomotives, now so almost universally in use. The interest awakened at home and abroad by the performance of the Gowan & Marx, is so distinctly pointed out by the able writer, M. Michel Chevalier, in his treatise " Histoire et Description des Voies de Communication aux Etats Unis,"(4) and by the late Joseph Harrison, Jr., in his volume the "Locomo- tive," that I deem it in place to make the quota- tions given in the Appendix.(5) To this period belongs also the mighty Marine En- gine, and the improved form of propeller,(6) which, revolutionizing navigation, have rendered the ocean also a crowded highway of swiftly moving commerce. Not a few of those here assembled will fail to recall the curiosity and amazement with which they be- held anchored in American waters, in succession, the "Sirius" and the "Great Western," the first steam-ships that had crossed the Atlantic, so proudly solving the great problem that had agitated the nautical and commercial world. (7) Glancing over the industrial arts, there would seem to be no end to the varied and multifarious directions in which the potent energies of steam have, in these recent years, been applied. At an earlier period had been invented the cotton gin of Whitney, to take the place of the tedious process of hand picking ; and the spinning mule of Cartwright, twisting from the thinnest fibre to the stoutest cable; and the power loom of Arkwright, weaving from the finest gossamer to the coarsest canvas or carpet ; but favorably comparing with these inventions, both in ingenuity and value to the 47 world, are the steam printing presses of Hoe, and of Bullock of our own time and country, and of Walter, of England,(8) w T hich, with their almost living fingers, and, as by human guidance, lift, and carry, and turn over for the type the paper to be printed, and are able to throw off an edition of one hundred thousand double-printed sheets within the brief space of a few hours ; and the Steam Hammer, in its improved forms, with its delicate touch or giant power that can shape the needle or forge the anchor. While we have snatched the oar from the sluggish barge, and torn the white canvas from the kissing breeze, and through the agencies of steam have covered the rivers and the seas with those quick and sure messengers of trade, whose wings no cur- rent can arrest, and scarcely tide or tempest can delay, so in the manufactory, where the weary horse or fluctuating wind or stream slowly and unsteadily performed their appointed tasks, we have planted the engine with its highly improved capabilities, whose untiring energy whirls the spindle or throws the shuttle, and performs besides in its hundred handed dexterity, with new forms of machinery, every variety of labor, from that of pumping, saw- ing, planing, hoisting, grinding, pounding, boring, threshing, rolling, and propelling the furnace-blast, to that of dragging the ponderous gang plough over the stretches of our western prairies. It was as far back as 1790 that Galvani evoked the first fact in dynamic electricity ; this led to Yolta's discovery in 1800 of the Voltaic pile, and the device of the crown of cups ; and was followed later in the same year by the startling discoveries 48 by Davy of the true nature of the battery's action, and by its agency of the metals of the alkalies and alkaline earths. While all honor and admiration are due to each of these gifted philosophers, it was reserved for a period almost within the last half century to witness the experiments of Oersted and Ampere in the deflection of the magnetic needle by the galvanic current, the magnetization of iron by the same influence, by Arago, and within this period, of Sturgeon and our own Prof. Henry (9) to produce the electro-magnet, and of Faraday the once humble bookbinder to write his name in letters of gold among men, for his extensive and profound researches in electricity, static and dynamic. Upon the combined discoveries and researches of these philosophers is based that second marvel of modern civilization the Electric Telegraph the most prominent forms of which are those of Morse and Wheatstone, the Mechanical(lO) and the Needle or oscillating, the one for the land, the other for the sea. Wonderful as is this achievement, it is but one of the innumerable fruits of these discoveries, which so much contribute to the comfort, enjoyment, and re- finement of mankind. Mark for instance the whole range of Electro- chemistry ; the decomposition by the galvanic cur- rent, of the metallic salts in the processes of electro- plating of copper, nickel, silver, and gold, whereby engravings of maps and verniers, busts, medals, and other objects of use and ornament may be reproduced as perfect fac-similes, and the beautiful semblance of the precious metals made to take the place of 49 base and less attractive alloys; and the dissipation of the threatening tumor and treatment of other maladies by its destructive chemical or heating powers. And then the electro-carbon light whose splendor is only surpassed by that of the sun himself. And again the no less powerful but more convenient -magneto-electric light, which now glows from the towers of Le Hevre and Dungeness to warn the storm-beaten and bewildered mariner as he approaches the rock-bound coast.(ll) Witness through electro-magnetism the various signal instruments, as the burglar-alarm, the fire- alarm, the factor} 7 and depot-watchman's check clock, and more valuable perhaps than many of these, the chronograph, by which the longitudes of places on the earth's surface are ascertained with more precision than ever before attained, replacing the old methods of determining the occurrence of celestial phenomena, such as the transit of stars and planets, wherein the observation is recorded directly by the touch of an electro-magnetic trigger, a method known and recognized as the American method, instead of by the eye and hand. In this connection must be named the whole cata- logue of the constant galvanic batteries, those of Daniel, Grove, Bunsen, and Callan, and the water batteries of Gassiot, and that of the Bichromate of Potassium and Sulphuric Acid, and later, the Gravity battery, without whose agency the manifold modern applications of this subtile power could not have been accomplished. (12) And here too we must men- tion the steam electrical machine devised by Arm- strong, and so fully investigated by Faraday. 50 Within this same period we are also to note the remarkable discovery of Diamagnetism by that great man and his researches therein, and the discovery by Seebeck of a whole new class of phenomena under the title of Thermo-electricity, and also the device of those curious and instructive instruments for the production of induced electricity, the Ruhm- korff and Ritchie coils, the Holtz and Toepler and other non-friction electrical machines with their brilliant companions for illustration, the vacuum tubes of Gassiot, Geissler, and GaifFe, and the cas- cade of Gassiot ; and under the same head we are to make record of the practical applications of these agencies as seen in the blasting of rocks, and the exploding of mines and torpedoes in marine warfare. We turn next to the field of astronomy, and here it is curious to note, in passing, that a period of fifty years (as referred to by Sir David Brewster) seems to have been the interval between each important step in connection with the great instrument of research in that science the Telescope. After the telescope of Galileo, came that of New- ton ; and fifty years after that of Newton, was con- structed that of Hadley .; fifty years after Hadley's, the instrument of Sir William Herschel, by which so many grand and startling discoveries were achieved. Fifty years later brings us to our own epoch, when we are permitted to gaze with astonished vision through those marvellous productions of Lord ROSB, Alvan Clark, and Lassel ; instruments capable of bringing the moon, lying in space 240,000 miles away ,(13) to the near distance of 90 miles, revealing its rocks, mountains, valleys, and extinct volcanoes : "the crescent of the planet Venus with its moun- 51 tainous outline," the system of double and treble stars, the nebulae, and starry clusters of every variety of shape, and those " spiral nebular formations," which, while they awaken unbounded curiosity and restless speculation, continue to baffle human comprehension. In this domain of science we are called upon to record, as made within the period of which we are now speaking, observations and discoveries of the highest interest. Thus, those regularly recurring showers of meteors, which, within the last half century, have so much attracted the attention of astronomers, and which were first distinctly proved by our countryman, Olmsted, to be rings or groups of bodies, revolving around the sun, in orbits inter- secting the pathway of the earth, have, of late, been considered as arranging themselves into some rela- tionship with Cometary forms, and are regarded as being most probably so many great companies of far out-lying skirmishers to those attenuated bodies. Within this period the list of Asteroids, which was before only four, has been increased to more than one hundred and thirty; and through the patient toil, philosophical acumen in dealing with the intri- cate question of planetary perturbations, and the profound mathematical calculations of Leverrier, Adams, and Peirce, a new world has been discovered, to take its place among the sisterhood of planets, having eight times the diameter, or more than five hundred times the cubical mass of the planet upon which we dwell a discovery which will shine forth in eternal commemoration of one of the grandest efforts of the human intellect in modern times. Cognate with astronomy is the science of optics. During the past fifty years whole regions of hith- erto unexplored territory have been mapped out ; 52 distinct and totally new branches of the subject have sprung into existence. Indeed, it may be questioned whether any department of human knowledge has been so prolific in discovery and so rich in the ac- cessions of truth within this period as this one of Light. The Emission theory of Newton was opposed, and the doctrine of Wave motion was advocated by Huy- gen and Euler long anterior, yet the wave doctrine did not take its final shape until a much later period. The philosophical mind of Dr. Thomas Young, who died no earlier than 1829, had grasped this theory of light, and had contributed much towards establishing it by his experiments and calculations. There was needed, however, some further testimony in its behalf to secure its general adoption. This was supplied by the experiments and mathematical calculations of Fresnell ; and it has now become the universally accepted view. This point established and it has been done with- in the past five decades the lifetime to-day of the Franklin Institute, we may now call up, in rapid narration, not attempting any strictly chronological order, some of the more prominent discoveries in this branch of science. Although Mai us had discovered the polarization of light by reflection as early as 1810, and the same philosopher, and Biot and Brewster had a little later, and independently of each other, discovered the same result by refraction, yet we can claim justly for the period in which we are now interested, the addition of many important observations and discoveries which have contributed to render this branch of 53 knowledge one of the most interesting as well as one of the most perfect of the physical sciences. Among the illustrious names to be mentioned in this connection, besides those referred to, are Arago and Sir John Herschel. While the great improvements referred to, in the telescope, were in progress, the instrument by which we are enabled to look into the intimate structure of the materials around us, was receiving steadily new accessions, both to its power and to the variety ot its applications. Although the Microscope, in its early and simple form, was a means of important discovery especially in the structure of organic forms, it was not until within the last fifty years, that it received those improvements, which fitted it for ac- curate and precise research. These improvements, commencing with Pritchard, Oberhauser, and Chevallier, and advancing in the workshops of Ross, Powel and Leland, Smith and Beck, Nachet, and others in Europe, and in those of Spencer, Wales, Towles, and Zentmayer in this country, have at length given to the naturalist and Investigator in Physics a means of exploration, which, in the marvels of its discoveries among the almost infinitely small parts of bodies, rivals and perhaps excels the stupendous revelations of the telescope among the masses and spaces of the heavens. By the increased power and perfection of its com- posite objectives, and the use of polarizing and other appendages, it has become one of the most precious of our " instruments of precision," giving us, among other results, so clear and faithful a view of the minutest living structure, as to enable us 54 to mark the elementary cell in each stage of its de- velopment, and leading us to that great physiologi- cal law which makes the living microscopic cell the physical origin of every organic form and of all organic growth. Nor let us omit to mention, that while thus enlarg- ing our philosophical conception of the relation of living tissues and forms, it becomes in the hands oi the physician, an instrument of essential daily use in judging of the nature and seat of disease, guiding to a wise diagnosis and an enlightened treatment. In connection with the chemical action of light, a vast field of observation and discovery has been ex- plored. It is probable that Watt and Bolton in 1799 suc- ceeded in taking sun pictures on paper, although no written account of their method has been transmitted to us ; and it is well established that in 1802, Sir Humphry Davy and Thomas Wedge wood actually accomplished the same result ; but it was not until Niepce and Daguerre, of Paris, between the years 1827 and 1839 successfully devised the method of producing those extraordinary heliographic pictures, known as the Daguerrotype. Who that is of sufficient age does not remember the amazement and delight with which he first in- spected those charming pictures of trees and build- ings, landscapes and grazing herds, with all their minutest details sketched by the sun, on the silver plate with his own actinic pencil ; and then a little later their intense enjoyment through the sentiment involved, of those speaking portraits of loving friends, first produced by our philosophic investigator Prof. Draper ? 55 In 1839 Mr. Fox Talbot first successfully produced what he called "photogenic" drawings, upon paper first charged with iodide of silver, then dipped in nitrate of silver and subsequently in iodide of potas- sium, and after exposure to the object developed to view, by washing in a mixture of aceto-nitrate and gallic acid, and finally fixed by means of hyposul- phite of sodium. From this has sprung the exquisite art of modern photography, which in its many sided applications has become a familiar and almost necessary member of every household. Quickly following the Talbotype, we have had de- vised in rapid succession an almost endless variety of modifications of the paper photograph, and we now witness as but of yesterday that triumph of patient skill in this same progress, the Woodburytype, which first calls upon the sun to paint his faithful picture upon the sensitized film, then transfers it with un- failing accuracy to a metallic plate, from which it may be printed on paper by means of appropriate ink, as in lithographic or copperplate work. To this may be added the still more recent, and perhaps more perfect invention just coming into use, which, under the name of the Heliotype accomplishes the same end by printing directly from the film itself, hardened after it has received the picture. Nor should we, in this enumeration of the achieve- ments of photography, omit to mention its uses to the astronomer. The world has already become familiar with those remarkable photographic pictures of the moon, ob- tained by our ingenious countryman, Mr. Rutherford, in which is depicted, with marvellous fidelity, every 56 feature of our satellite which the telescope reveals. And at this very moment, another of our country- men, the astronomer Gould, in his observatory nt Cordoba, on the plains of the Upper La Plata, is engaged in mapping, by photographic instruments and processes, and with a precision unequalled by any other method, the constellations of the Southern hemisphere. In 1802, Dr. Wollaston, allowing the light of the sun, after passing through a narrow slit in a darkened room, to fall upon a prism of glass, observed a few dark lines crossing at different places, the prismatic spectrum. In 1814, the skilful optician, Fraunhofer, counted and mapped as many as 576 of these lines. He ascertained that light so treated, if it were of the sun, whether as his direct rays or by reflection, as from the moon or any of the planets, gave these lines always in precisely the same relative position to each other, and to the colors of the spectrum ; and, on the other hand, that when the light of the stars, which are self-luminous, was so observed, it gave for each star its own dark lines, and differently located from those of the sun. He was able to assign no reason for these phenomena, but concluded that they were due to a cause beyond the influence of our Atmosphere. After an interval of some years, in which little of direct observation had been made, a new impulse was given to the investigation of these phenomena. J. W. Draper, of this country, M. Faucoult of France, Drs. Balfour Stewart, and Miller of Eng- land, had enunciated a doctrine known as that of " exchanges," more especially in connection with 57 the phenomena of radiation and absorption of caloric.(14)* This, followed out with the aid of sagacious gene- ralizations and ingeniously devised experiments, in the hands of Kirchoff, culminated in that grand dis- covery which, under the name of spectrum analysis, not only furnishes the means of the most delicate qualitative determination of substances even to the discovery of new elements, but extending its powers beyond the earth, has supplied us with a solar and stellar chemistry. Truly the revelations of science are more strange than fiction. Who that saw with Wollaston, for the first time, a few dark lines traced at intervals across the column of the prismatic spectrum, could have conceived that they should lead to the amazing discoveries and generalizations which have followed, and that to-day we should witness Kirchoff, Bunsen, Huggens, Lock- yer, Jansen, and Secchi, pointing their spectroscope to the skies to bid the sun, and planets, and stars, and even the comets and nebulae themselves to reveal to man the hidden secrets of their nature and composi- tion ? Next in sequence we may properly speak of the kindred branch of science Acoustics that fascinat- ing subject which has ever been a source of delight to the student of the laws which govern the pheno- * Dr. John W. Draper has, in the number of "Nature" for July 30th of the present year, entered a reclaimer, in connection with the announcement of the fundamental facts, on which rests the doctrine of Spectrum Analysis. I deem it due that distin- guished investigator to quote his statement. See Appendix. 5 58 mena of sound, and of exquisite enjoyment in its musical relation to the mass of mankind. Yet it is interesting and singular to note that, while men have lived in the grand musical triumphs of each period in succession, musical composition and execution have been, in a great measure, inde- pendent of the science of its physical phenomena. It is, indeed, to be doubted whether Handel, Hay- den, Mozart, or Bethoven ever concerned themselves at all with the wave length of this note or that, or whether they even knew accurately the relative length of strings or pipes, which produced one octave above another. Therefore, since the esthetic relations, and all the charms of music could be realized without the labors of the experimenter and the natural philosopher, it is not unnatural that within the term of years in which we are now particularly interested, no great number of marked discoveries of facts should have been made. Yet RO attractive is the whole subject of sound, not only as a study within itself, but in its relations to the phenomena of light and heat, which it is so well adapted to elucidate, it was to be expected that it would be made the theme of exten- sive illustration. Therefore in the department of experimental acoustics, few branches of science have within these recent years witnessed a progress so great. To the ingenuity and skill of Savart, See- beck, Cladni, Wheatstone, Lissajeau, Helmholtz, Koenig, Kundt, and Mayer, of Hoboken, we are in- debted for the large ' portion of the instructive ap- paratus seen at the present time on the counter of the lecture room. (15) Let us next visit the laboratory of the chemist, 59 look into the furnace of the metallurgist, and enter the dye-house of the manufacturer, to take account of a few of the results which have been accomplished in these directions within the last fifty years ; and here a processson of almost endless length passes before our view. We witness, just on the verge of the period we are discussing, the first distinct isolation, from Peru- vian bark, of that precious alkaloid Quinia, whose wondrous sanative powers have rescued so many sufiferers from malarious poisoning. We see im- provements made in the extraction of nearly all the remedial proximate principles, as Morphia, Quinia, Strychnia, and the like, and the application to pur- poses of blasting and mining of explosive compounds, Fulminating mercury, Fulminating silver, White Powder, Gun Cotton, and ]N"itro-glycerine, with its modifications Dinamite and "Giant Powder." We note the new treatment by Tilghman of fats and oils for the separation of stearic and margaric acid from glycerine for candles, and the uses of that latter substance in medicine as well as in the arts ; the manipulation of Gum-elastic by which it is on the one hand rendered soluble and suitable to form belt- ing, tubing, bags, and waterproof shoes, coats, blan- kets, tents, etc., and on the other turned into Vulcanite and Ebonite with their numberless applications ; and of Gutta Percha too, that wonderful gum, so plastic when warm, so firm and resisting when cold, and so highly endowed with electro-insulating power. We should do injustice to the profound science, and the skill displayed in the chemical arts, did we not here note those magnificent pigments and dyeing materials which have, within recent years, been re- 60 vealed by the treatment of coal tar, the waste pro- duct of gas making. I allude to the various Aniline colors whose rich brilliancy of tints vie with the hues of the solar spectrum. These are all dependent for their production upon the discovery of Benzole, made by Faraday. Among these products we have a bla*ck, blue, green, brown, purple, pink, violet, yellow, and a red, adapted for dyeing, for calico printing, the manu- facture of the lake pigments and lithographic inks. And, more singular than all, Alizarine, which re- presents the coloring principles of madder furnish- ing the first example of the synthetical production of a natural coloring matter. Thus we see, derived from the most humble origin ? a rich variety of shades wherewith art may adorn her work, or beauty and fashion array themselves. In immediate connection with this theme, I would here refer to those startling discoveries of Berthelot and others recently given to the world, in which it was ascertained that by the synthetic method, or by what may be termed the inverted process of chemical reaction, a large number of organic substances may be produced, such as alcohol, wood spirit, grape sugar, formic acid, and vinegar, without the instru- mentality of a previous organic substance. While thus referring to the recent labors of chem- istry in works conducing to the power and wealth and civilization of the world, we must not forget those beneficient discoveries which have secured to man immunity from pain in circumstances of other- wise agonizing suffering ; for it is to this science that we are indebted for those anaesthetic agents nitrous oxide gas, ether, and chloroform which are now so 61 universally employed in medicine and surgery, and which are recognized by all as a precious boon to the operating surgeon, and a priceless blessing to suffer- ing humanity. Leaving untouched, for want of time, the whole of the sciences of geology and natural history, we may glance at a few of the developments which have been made within the last half century per- taining to mining interests. At the beginning of this period bituminous coals were taken from the earth in Great Britain and on the continent in quantities measured annually by the few hundreds of thousands of tons ; now, the quantity is summed up by millions. To-day the yearly product of Great Britain alone is not less than one hundred and ten millions of tons, an amount, if estimated in mechanical energy, equal to a labor- ing population of not fewer than twenty-Jive millions of able-bodied men. We have to record as discovered within this period, the vast beds of anthracite coal, the black diamond of our own State more precious than the mines of Golconda which has added so vastly to the prosperity and wealth, not only of this Com- monwealth, but to that of the whole country ; to refer to the petroleum of our western counties, which, until within recent years, had been known only in small quantity and as a useless object of curiosity, now flowing or being pumped from innu- merable artesian wells, and yielding, under chemical treatment, lubricating and burning oils, volatile products, as gasoline, rigolene, etc., with solid paraffine for candles and telegraphic insulating pur- poses; also to the mines of California, Colorado, 62 Nevada, Utah, and Australia, rich in their precious treasures of gold, silver, and mercury; and in this connection, to those extraordinary devices of engi- neering skill, those mountain canals or flumes, and powerful hydraulic jets, for battering down the vast auriferous gravel hills of some of these regions, for the washing out and collection of their precious contents. In metallurgic processes great progress has been made in the extraction and treatment of iron, cop- per, lead, quicksilver, nickel, aluminium, and the precious metals. Thus the anthracite furnace has taken the place of the charcoal furnace, and the hot blast has superseded the cold blast in the smelting of iron ; and more striking than these is the improved manu- facture of steel by the remarkable method of Besse- mer, accomplished by driving a blast of air through molten iron just after it has been received from the furnace in a clay-lined crucible, a process which seerns destined to revolutionize this great branch of industry. And still more recently we have to hail as of to- day, the discovery of that remarkable alloy of cop- per and tin associated with a small percentage of phosphorus, which seems to endow it with proper- ties of great value. This substance has been named Phosphor-bronze. In the art of war, too, we are called upon to chronicle vast changes. Whether these changes, which are pointed to as improvements, and as mark- ing a higher civilization, are really blessings or otherwise, depends upon the result, whether a greater and more inevitable destruction of life and 63 property has had the effect of leading more gene- rally to the substitution of arbitration for a resort to arms. The percussion cap and wafer, with their many modes of use, among them the needle-gun, have su- perseded the old flint lock ; the twisted barrel has replaced the smooth bore ; the turreted monitor has found its way into naval architecture in place of the high-floating ship ; the iron armor has been substi- tuted for the wooden sides, and the light ball has yielded its place to the ponderous steel-pointed mis- sile, charged with its destructive fulminate, until the grim sarcasm comes to have a peculiar point, that ships are made so strong that no balls can pierce them, and balls so heavy, and sent so swiftly that no ships can resist them. In the earlier views in regard to the actions and changes of matter, the opinion was entertained that substances were often annihilated, and that with this ended all that pertained to them. Thus, that in the burning of a mass of coal, by the combustion it was destroyed, and that the transient heat which it evolved after communicating itself to surrounding objects was then dissipated and lost. Another view has now come to be adopted, this is, that seeming destruction of a body is only its transformation into some other shape, and the dis- appearance of the energy attending that transmu- tation is only the conversion of one force into another. The latter statement is, in brief, an expression of the modern doctrine of the " correlation and conserva- tion of the physical forces." The first step towards this great generalization is doubtless due to our own countryman, Benjamin 64 Thompson, afterwards Count Rumford, whose famous experiment of the rotation of a solid plunger re- volving within a hollow cylinder of iron surrounded by water, demonstrated that heat might be pro- duced for an indefinite length of time by continuous friction, and led him to the sagacious conclusion that the motion, was actually converted into heat; in other words, that the visible motion of the revolving mass was changed by the friction into a vibratory motion of the particles of the apparatus and surrounding water, and that this latter motion constituted the heat developed, that is, that heat is but a "mode of motion" This conclusion, in recent years confirmed by various researches and by like processes of experi- ment and mathematical analysis, through the labors of Mayer, Joule, Grove, Wm. Thompson, Helmholtz, Clausius, Faraday, and Tyndall, has been developed into a comprehensive law now universally accepted, a law which embraces not only mechanical power and heat, but also light, electricity, magnetism, and chemical action in one grand bond of mutual correlation or equivalency. To complete the list of topics that might come within the province of the duty assigned me, it would be necessary to transfer to my pages the contents of the scientific and practical journals of the world. I will, therefore, close the enumeration by naming, without adhering to chronological order, only a few out of the many that have a claim to consideration. Thus, the mechanical mowers and reapers, the Ericsson air-engine, the gas-engines of Lenoir and Hugon, the infinite variety of sewing machines, the fog-horn, street railways, the ice ma- 65 chine, the sand blast of the Tilghman Brothers, the gunpowder pile-driver, the manufacture of carbonate of sodium by Le Blanc's process, and the revival of an old process by the reaction between carbonate of am- monium and chloride of sodium, the manufacture of lucifer matches, the preservation of meats and vege- tables, the silvering of glass by metallic silver instead of by mercury, the introduction of carbolic acid and the permanganate of potassium as disinfectants, the preparation of oxygen by the continuous method, and of chlorine by the revival of the binoxide of manganese. And in connection with education, the creation of institutions for instruction in applied sciences, of Institutes of Technology (16). And, lastly, in the noble field of benevolence, the introduction of the humane and merciful treatment of those de- prived of reason, in place of the cruelties of the strait jacket and the terrors of the ducking stool. Did time permit, I would attempt to recall to your minds in detail, however imperfect the effort, wherein this Institute has done its part, but to do this I should weary your patience. I will, therefore, simply refer to the experiments it has conducted in the investigation of the strength of materials; to its careful search into the causes of steam-boiler explosions ; to the numerous reports of its committees upon matters within its province; to its library of valuable scientific and practical works for consultation ; its collections of minerals and models, the one a help and to give incentive to the study of an important practical branch of natural science bearing upon mining interests, the other facilitating inventive talent ; to the courses of in- structive lectures delivered during each winter 66 upon physics, chemistry, geology, and other scien- tific and practical branches; to its monthly meet- ings for the reading and discussion of papers upon science and the arts, and the exhibition of novel inventions ; and then to those unseen but deeply felt influences which it has exerted, in aiding seekers after information in various directions of thought, by guiding them to persons and authors best capable of supplying their wants. I would refer also to its Drawing School, where large numbers of young men and women nightly re- sort, for the acquirement, under able instructors, of that art so valuable in almost every walk of life. And, lastly, to its Journal, the pioneer reporter of the mechanic arts in this country, which, keep- ing pace with the progress of science and industry, is to-day a living representative of many of the largest interests of our country. With such a record of the past, may not our Institute anticipate yet brighter prospects in the future, and should we not all exclaim in earnest words, " Esto perpetua" ? APPENDIX. (1) In 1763 James Watt, of Greenock, Scotland, devised his first form of low pressure Steam Engine. In this engine the steam was condensed directly within the steam cylinder. In 1765 he introduced the use of a separate condenser, thereby greatly economizing the steam. In this form it was single act- ing that is, it received the steam on but one side of the piston, and was only adapted to the purposes of pumping. In 1784 he caused the steam to act upon both sides of the piston, and thus invented the double-acting engine. Between this date and 1800 he added many important details improved the system of condensation, and finally added the cut- off by which the steam could be used expansively, thus perfect- ing the machine which, in its great principles has not since been displaced. 67 (2) Long anterior to this period Oliver Evans, of Philadelphia, employed a single large tube or flue passing through his boilers, to enable the heated products of combustion to act more efficiently on the water. It is due to this highly gifted inventor to state that he was the first to put into practical application the use of high steam, in what is now known as the high-pressure steam-engine and that he is also a competitor for the honor of having first applied the paddle wheel to the propulsion of boats. Prof. Tresca, of the Conservatoire des Arts et Metiers, Paris, in his Treatise on the Steam Engine, awards to Joel Barlow, author of the "Columbiad," the credit of priority in the inven- tion of the Multitubular Boiler. A gentleman who has had access to the original papers of Oliver Evans, has furnished the following statement, which I deem it proper to here quote : " The first essential to the modern locomotive, is the high pres- sure steam-engine, and British writers generally accord it to Messrs. Trevithick and Vivian, who in 1802, took out in England a patent therefor ; but, in the American edition of the 2d English edition of Wood's 'Treatise on Railroads,' 1831, Messrs. Tre- vithick and Vivian are distinctly charged with having copied, without acknowledgment, the plans and specifications of Oliver Evans, which in 1794-5 were sent by him to England, in charge of Mr. Joseph Stacy Sampson. I also find that in a work entitled the 'Young Steam Engineer's Guide,' written by Oliver Evans, and published in Philadelphia in 1805, Mr. Evans speaks of having in 1794-5, sent 'drawings, specifications, and explana- tions' of his plans to England, ' to be shown to steam engineers.' Mr. Evans also speaks of Mr. Joseph Stacy Sampson, of Boston, who, he states, carried the papers to England, and ' died there, but the papers may have survived.' "The multitubular boiler, which, next to the high -pressure engine, forms the most essential part of the steam carriage, is by Smiles, who wrote in 1857, accorded to George Stephenson, but I find that both Nicholas Wood, and Dr. Lardner (high British authorties on the steam-engine), who respectively wrote in 1831 and 1835, distinctly declare the multitubular boiler to be due to Mr. Booth, Treasurer of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, who they state suggested to Mr. Stephenson the use of the tubes, to conduct the heated air through the boiler of his engine the * Rocket' which won the prize in the competitive test on the 68 . Liverpool and Manchester Railway. Indeed, both Mr. Wood and Dr. Lardner concur in stating, that a portion of the 500 prize won by the ' Rocket' was paid to Mr. Booth. " It is a curious fact that the multitubular boiler in all its essen- tial particulars existed in America almost one-third of a century before its introduction into Great Britain. The boiler which Oliver Evans had devised to generate steam for his high-pressure engine had a tube to conduct the heated air through the water, and in 1803 John Stevens, of Hoboken, New Jersey, took out a patent for a boiler composed entirely of tubes, which, in 1805, he also patented in England. A boiler constructed by Mr. Stevens was * 2 feet long, 15 inches wide, and 10 or 12 inches high, and consisted of 81 tubes, 2 feet long, and 1 inch in diameter.' But, unfortunately, all of these tubes were filled with heated water instead of heated air. "In 1791, Col. James Rumsey, of Virginia, took out a patent for a boiler consisting of 'homogeneous incurvated tubes.' Plans and specifications of all three of these boilers found their way to England ; Col. Rumsey 's as early as 1792-3. Is it too much to surmise, that the principles of construction they severally devel- oped, ultimately suggested the multitubular boiler of the existing locomotive ? "Smiles claims for Stephenson the introduction of the exhaust steam in the chimney stack, for the purpose of increasing the draught of the furnace, but Nicholas Wood writes that in ' the introduction of those engines it was necessary to resort to the application of waste steam thrown upwards to create a sufficient current of air through the fire. ' It seems that to Mr. Hackworth, rather than to Mr. Stephenson, we are indebted for the complete development of the principle. "Smiles claims for Stephenson the discovery that sufficient adhesion existed between the wheels of the steam carriage and the rails for the purpose of locomotion, but Nicholas Wood, who was present when Stephenson's engine was tried, accords the credit to Mr. Blackett, and, speaking of Mr. Stephenson's engine, writes, 'grooved sheaves were fixed upon the hinder travelling wheels of the engine, and similar grooved sheaves upon the fore wheels of the convoy carriage containing the coals and water, with an endless chain, working over each, to procure the adhesion of the wheels of the convoy carriage, in addition to the adhesion of the engine wheels ; but on trial it was not found necessary to resort to the aid of this contrivance.' 69 " In short, if Nicholas "Wood, Dr. Lardner, and others who wrote nearly one-fourth of a century before Smiles, made truthful record, the locomotive owes but little to the inventive genius of Mr. Stephenson. Grave doubts exist as to the validity of every important claim advanced by Smiles for him as the author, or even improver of the steam carriage. Mr. Stephenson doubtless acted an important part in executing the inventions of other and more ingenious minds. But that, and that alone, appears to have been the full extent of the services he rendered. " But to return to Oliver Evans, of whom the Mechanic's Maga- zine, published in London in 1850, speaks as the 'first projector of steam travelling. ' It appears from the preface to the American edition of Wood on Railroads, that before the termination of the 18th century, Mr. Evans ' urged the adoption of railways and locomotives in lieu of canals.' The same authority declares, that 4 Mr. Evans urged in repeated addresses to the public, the con- struction of a railroad from Philadelphia to New York, and in 1809 attempted to form a company for the purpose of effecting it, purposing the investment of his whole fortune in the enterprise. ' " In orderto accomplish his purpose, Oliver Evans ruthlessly, as it were stripped from the steam-engine- the condenser and air pumps, inventions of the celebrated James Watt, which by him and the world w r ere thought to be absolutely essential thereto. Mr. Evans retained the valve movement due Mr. Watt, with the exception that he introduced the cut-off, and ' thus (to use his own words) the piston is driven by strong puffs of steam, the same that the air-gun drives its bullets.' " He declared his improvement to be so great ' as to be without a parallel,' but the opponents of innovation were a formidable obstacle to its introduction. Mr. Evans writes that ' those learned in error on this subject oppose their theories, corollaries and demonstrations ; those who are well versed in the principles of Watt and Bolton's engine, oppose their darling vacuums. The English steam engineers bring forward their cocks, induction pipes, air pumps, hot wells, sniffling valves, etc. etc.' At length Mr. John Harrison, Messrs. Richards & Simmons, and Messrs. Burtis, Moore & Keen, all of Philadelphia, purchased his engines, and they worked so satisfactorily, that each of the parties indi- cated concurred in publicly declaring over their respective signa- tures, 'that they would rather pay Oliver Evans the price of one of his engines, than accept as a present one of English construc- tion.' Edward Mason, Jr., Daniel Bates, Hercules Whitney, 70 Henry C. Coffin, and Isaac Stanford, all of Providence, Rhode Island, who were mutually concerned in works which they stated required 'great power,' did also over their signatures declare that they had two of Oliver Evans's engines at work, that they had compared it with Bolton and Watt's, ' and after satisfactory investigation we gave Mr. Evans's the preference, and have had it a sufficient time at work to prove its real worth, durability, and cheapness compared with others.' They added that 'his method of warming apartments by the heat of the steam of the engine we consider a new and valuable discovery, consequently the ex- pense of fuel chargeable to the engine is proportionably reduced.' "From that time forward the use of Mr. Evans's engine be- came general, and to-day it has so completely superseded that of Mr. Watt, that with the exception of some engine for a steam- boat on the rivers running into the Atlantic, the low-pressure engine is almost unknown in the United States. "In the absence of railways in the United States, Mr. Evans proposed to introduce the steam carriage on turnpike roads, and to that end made a proposition to the President and Directors of the Lancaster Turnpike Company. The original draft of the proposition is on my table as I write. It is dated September 26th, 1804. With his proposition, he directed attention to his inven- tions and improvements for the manufacture of flour, also to his inventions for making wire cards by machinery, etc. etc. He said, 'This statement I make to you, to show, that I have always hitherto been successful in my mechanical improvements, and have never once failed in any attempt.' But he did fail to induce the company to cooperate. The elevator, that to-day is so much used for the handling of grain, was one of his inventioDS. Some years before his death, Oliver Evans offered to build a steam carriage that, on a level railway, should run fifteen miles an hour, for double price, if it attained that speed, and nothing if it did not. At the date of this offer (and for many years after- wards) the highest speed of the best English engines was but seven miles per hour. But to his family, and to his intimates, he spoke of a much higher rate of speed. A gentleman has in- formed the writer, that when he was a youth, Mr. Evans de- clared to Judge Peters, and other gentlemen present, ' this boy, (putting his hand on the boy's head) ' will live to ride behind one of my engines as fast as a bird can fly,' 'which prediction,' my informant said, ' I have lived to see verified.' It is due to British writers to state, that some of them have gone beyond the 71 patent of Trevithick and Vivian, and have frankly conceded the high pressure engine to Oliver Evans. "I have thrown the foregoing facts together ; perhaps at some future day a more detailed narrative will show the enormous ma- terial benefits that this country and indeed the entire civilized world owes to the inventive genius, and unrequited labors of Oliver Evans." But Mr. Evans never lived to see his darling project of steam travelling by rail fulfilled in the United States. He died in 1819. (3) Mr. Joseph Harrison, Jr., of Philadelphia, of the firm of Eastwick & Harrison, in 1839, at the instance of Moncure Robinson, Esq., Civil Engineer of the Reading R. R. Company, designed a new locomotive, intended to have great power for the heavy freighting purposes of that company. This engine was called the "Gowan and Marx." It weighed eleven tons, which was heavy for that day, but light as compared with those of the present. By the method of disposing of the weight upon the " drivers," it drew one hundred and one loaded cars. This was a most valu- able step towards the settlement of the problem of cheap trans- portation of heavy freights on railroads. (4) M. Moncure Robinson a fait construire pour le chemin de fer de Philadelphie a Pottsville par Reading, qui est destine a transporter beaucoup de charbon, des locomotives non-seulement a six roues, mais a huit partagees de meme en deux trains, et d'une force tres-grande. On estime que leur puissance de trac- tion ira a 400 tonnes avec tine faible vitesse. Une de ces machines, le Gowan et Marx, a pour diametre des cylindres O m .322 ; la course du piston est de O m .406. C'est la plus lourde des machines de la compagnie, et celle dont les cylindres ont le plus grand diametre. Cependant, a vide, elle ne pese que 9812 kilog., et en marche que 11,100 kilog. Elle es bien loin, comme on voit, de celles qu'on emploie aujourd'hui sur les che- miiis de fer de T Europe. Ainsi la compagnie de Saint -Germain a Paris a des machines a detente dont le poids a tide es de 16,500 kilog., et ou les cylindres ont un diametre de O m .38. Avec de fortes machines comme celles-ci, on obtiendrait sur le chemin de fer de Philadelphie a Mount Carbon des result ats plus satisfais- ants encore que ceux qui vont etre indiques. 72 (5) "On one of its trips (February 20th, 1840), it drew a train of one hundred and one four-wheel loaded cars from Reading to Philadelphia, at an average speed of 9.82-f miles per hour, nine miles of the road being a continuous level. The gross load on this occasion was 423 tons, not including the engine and tender, which, if the weight of the tender is counted, equalled forty times the weight of the engine." See "Journal of Franklin Institute," 1840, vol. 25, page 99, Report of G. N. Nichols, Supt. Philadelphia and Reading Rail- road, which closes as follows: "The above performance of an eleven ton engine is believed to excel any on record in this or any other country. It may be doubted whether it has been excelled since. "How strangely this feat of the Gowan and Marx compares with the trials on the Liverpool and Manchester Railroad in October, 1829, but ten years before, when all that was required of the com- peting locomotives was, that they should draw about three times their own weight t tender included, on a level track, five miles long, especially prepared for the trial. The great success of the Gowan and Marx, induced the Philadelphia and Reading Rail- road Company to duplicate the plan of this engine in ten engines subsequently built at Lowell, Mass. " In 1840, the Gowan and Marx attracted the particular atten- tion of the Russian engineers, Colonels Melnikoff and KrafFt, who had been commissioned by the Emperor Nicholas to examine into and report upon the various systems of railroads and railroad machinery then in operation in this country and in Europe. " The result of their examination was favorable to the American system, and when the engineers above named made their report on the construction of a railroad from St. Petersburg to Moscow, an engine upon the plan of the Gowan and Marx was recom- mended as best adapted to the purposes of this first great line of railroad in the Empire of Russia, and Eastwick and Harrison were requested to visit St. Petersbu^ with the view of making a contract for building the locomotives and other machinery for the road. " Mr. Harrison went to St. Petersburg in the spring of 1843, and in connection with Mr. Thomas Winans, of Baltimore, a contract was concluded with the government of Russia, at the close of the same year, for building 162 locomotives, and iron trucks for 2500 freight cars. Mr. Eastwick joined Mr. Harrison and Mr. Winans at St. Petersburg in 1844." 73 (6) Although the propeller in its cruder forms had been at- tempted many years before, no practically successful application of the screw seems to have been made until 1836 and 1837. At which time the result was accomplished by Sir Francis Pettit Smith and Captain John Ericsson respectively, between whose claims of priority there has been a difference of opinion. " Within the past ten years the screw has entirely replaced the paddle in transatlantic navigation, the weight of marine engines has decreased one-half, the steam pressure has quadrupled, and the consumption of coal has diminished two-thirds." (North American and United States Gazette.) For further information on this subject the reader is referred to the "Encyclopaedia Britannica," Article "Steam Navigation," and Bourne's "History of Screw Propulsion." (7) The Sinus left London for New York April 4th, 1838, and arrived at New York April 22d, making the clear voyage in seventeen days. The Great Western left Bristol on April 7th, 1838 three days later and reached New York on the 23d, making the voyage in fifteen days. (8) Of these presses the Walter seems to take precedence in rapidity of work and simplicity of construction. The inventors of the Walter Printing Press claim for it the following points : "1st. It is a perfecting machine printing on both sides at the rate of 12,000 copies per hour, or from 10,000 to 11,000, including stoppages. Ample provision has been made for overcoming the difficulties of set-off; and, as there are only four composition rollers used, and great care has been taken to make the cutting and delivering processes certain, the liability to interruption is reduced to a minimum. When changing from one reel to another, the arrangements are such that the delay scarcely exceeds a minute, and the reels are kept as large as possible for convenient handling. "2d. The labor employed when the Walter Press is in opera- tion consists of two lads taking off, who suffice to expect and count each sheet, and a striker to start the machine and look after the reels as they are unwound. One overseer can easily superintend two presses ; capable of turning out, with six un- skilled hands, perfected sheets at the rate of from 20,000 to 22,000 6 74 per hour, stoppages included. With four of these presses twelve lads and two overseers ' The Times' is now printed at the rate of more than 40,000 copies per hour ; (.