s to engineering art, we have that wonder of the
world, the great tubular bridge over the Menai Straits. This work
required a mind of no ordinary nature, but such a one was found in the
celebrated Robert Stephenson. I am proud to say I was privileged to have
him as a friend, and I greatly lamented his death, not only as a friend,
but as an irreparable loss to the world of science.

Another instance of science applied to art--and not the least
important--is the adaptation of glass to form the lens which enables the
flame of a lamp to be seen from a great distance. What this has done for
the mariner is shown in our lighthouses, which enable him to know where
he is by night as well as by day, for the lights are made to revolve, to
be stationary, or to show various colours or flashes, which reveal to
him their respective positions. The compass also, though ancient, is
still an application of applied science, and by it the mariner is
enabled to guide his ship safely over the ocean. A very beautiful
instance of applied science to art is electrometallurgy, in which metals
are deposited by means of the galvanic battery in any required form or
shape, and this process of gilding and plating is executed with
marvellous rapidity. All these various instances show what the mind of
man has done, and is doing; but the applications of science to art are
so endless, that even their simple enumeration could not be included in
the limits of an opening address, for there are few things to which
science cannot be applied. One of the most recent and beautiful is the
art of photography, where, by means of applied chemistry, aided by the
rays of the sun, there can be produced the most pleasing and lifelike
representations. This new application of chemistry is a most interesting
one, which shows that we do not stand still, and as long as arts and
science are permitted to be practised by us we are not intended to stand
still, but to exercise our minds to the utmost to unravel those
mysteries of nature that are yet to be developed.

Chemistry, as a regular branch of natural science, is of comparatively
recent origin, and can hardly be said to date earlier than the latter
third of last century. The Greek philosophers had some vague yet
profound ideas on this subject, but their acquaintance was limited to
speculations _a priori_, founded on general and often inaccurate
observations of natural occurrences. Yet their acuteness was such, that
some of