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lleprt and ^ricccdiuig.'j
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OF THE
B E L F .A^ S T
NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
FOR THE
SESSION 188e-87
BELFAST:
PRINTED BY ALEXR. MaYXE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET.
(printers to THR OrP.EN'S COLLEGE.)
H'
T
%^avi mu\ Mut^Axnp
OF THE
B E L F -A. S T
NATURAL HISTOR! & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY
FOR THE
SESSION 1886-87.
BELFAST-:
PRINTED BY ALEXR. MAYNE & BOYD, 2 CORPORATION STREET.
(printers to the queen's college.)
1887.
CONTENTS.
Annual Report ... ... ... ... ... ... o
Balance Sheet ... ... ... ... ■•• ••. 13
Donations to Museum ... ... ... ... ... ... 14
Books Received ... ... ... ... ... ... 15
Some Later Views respecting the Irish Round Towers, by William H.
Patterson, Esq., M.R.I.A. ... .. ... ... 20
Eastern Reminiscences, China and Manilla, by Thos. Workman, Esq., J. P. 28
Power and its Transmission, by Alex. B. Wilson, Esq. ... ... 34
A Question Concerning tlie Antrim Gravels, by Rev. Canon Grainger,
D.D., M.R.I.A. . . ... ... ... ... 39
Recent Archaeological Explorations in Co. Sligo, by Seaton Forrest
Milligan, Esq. .. ... ... ... ... ... 40
Technical Education and our Methods of Promoting it, by Wm. Gray,
Esq., M R.I.A. ... ... ... ... ... ... 55
Sewage Disposal and River Pollution, its Present and Future Aspects
from a Sanitary and Economic Point of View, by W. H. Hart-
land, Esq., C.E. ... ... ... ... ... C9
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena, by Professor E. A. Letts, Ph.D.,
F.C.S. 74
Some Account of the Whale and Seal Fisheries Past and Present, by
R. L. Patterson, Esq., J.P., F.L.S. ... ... ... 112
Epidemic Diseases : Can They be Stamped Out ? by Conway Scott,
Esq., B.E. ... ... ... ... ... ... 115
List of Office-Bearers ... ... ... .. ... ... 118
List of Shareholders and Subscribers ... ... ... ... 119
ISelfast !f atural Ifistory and philosophical Society.
EST ABIjISHE! JD 18S1.
SHAREHOLDERS.
1 Share in the Society costs £7.
2 Shares ,, ,, cost £14.
3 Shares ,, ,, cost £21.
The Proprietor of 1 Share pays 10s. per annum ; the proprietor of 2 Shares
pays 5s. per annum ; the proprietor of three or more Shares stands exempt from
further payment.
Shareholders only are eligible for election on the Council of Management.
MEMBERS.
There are two classes, Ordinary Members, who are expected to read Papers,
and Visiting Members, who, by joining imder the latter title, are understood
to intimate that they do not wish to read Papers. The Session for Lectures
extends from November in one year tiU May in the succeeding one. Members,
Ordinary or Visiting, pay £1 Is. per annum, due first November in each year.
Each Shareholder and Member has the right of personal attendance at all
meetings of the Society, and of admitting a friend thereto ; also of access to the
Museum for himself and family, with the privilege of granting admission orders
for inspecting the collections to any friend not residing in Belfast.
Any further information can be obtained by application to the Secretary.
It is requested that all accounts due by the Society be sent to the Treasurer.
The Museimi, College Square North, is open daily from 12 till 4 o'clock.
Admission for Strangers, 6d. each. The Curator is in constant attendance, and
will take charge of any Donation kindly left for the Museum or Library.
BELFAST
Natural 1bi6tor^ anb pbilosopbical Society,
ANNUAL REPORT, 1886
The Annual Meeting of the Shareholders in this Society was
held on June 17th, 1887, in the Museum, College Square
North. Mr. W. H. Patterson, President, occupied the chair.
There were also present :— Messrs. R. M. Young, R. L. Patter-
son, J.P. ; James Henderson, J. J. Murphy, R. Young, John
Greenhill, E. F. Patterson, Joseph Wright, William Gray,
William Swanston, James Meharg, Thomas Workman, James
Thompson, J.P. ; and James Wilson.
Mr. R. M. Young, Hon. Secretary, read the notice convening
the meeting. He also read the Annual Report of the Council,
which stated : —
" The Council of the Belfast Natural History and Philosophical
Society appointed by the Shareholders at their Annual Meet-
ing on June 3rd, 1886, desire to submit their Report of the
working of the Society during the past year.
" The Winter Session was opened on November 2nd, 1886, with
an address from your President, Mr. W. H. Patterson, M.R.I A.,
the subject selected being " Some Later Views respecting the
Irish Round Towers." The second meeting was held on
December 7th, 1886, when Mr. Thomas Workman, J. P., read
a paper on " Eastern Reminiscences: China and Manilla." The
lecture was illustrated by a fine series of photographic and
lantern views. The third meeting was held on January 4lh,
1887, when Mr. A. B. Wilson gave a paper on " Power." The
Rev. Canon Grainger, D.D., M.R.I.A., read a short paper
entitled " A Question on the Antrim Gravels," illustrated by a
6 Annual Report.
collection of Irish and other antiquities. The fourth meeting
was held on February ist, 1887, when Mr, Seaton F. Milligan
read a valuable paper on " Recent Archaeological Explorations
in the County Sligo," illustrated by a series of lime-light views,
maps, and antiquities. The fifth meeting was held on March
1st, 1887, when Mr. William Gray read a paper on "Technical
Education, and our Methods of Promoting it." The sixth
meeting was held on March 9th, 1887, when Mr. W. H.
Hartland, R.E.C.E,, gave a paper on " Sewage Disposal and
River Pollutions ; its present and future aspect from a sanitary
and economical point of view," illustrated by practical experi-
ments upon the treatment of sewage. The seventh meeting
was held on April 5th, 1887, when Mr, R. Lloyd Patterson,
J.P., F.L.S., read a paper entitled " Some Account of the
Whale and Seal Fisheries, past and present ;" and Mr. Conway
Scott, B.E., another on " Epidemic Diseases : Can they be
stamped out ? "
" In addition to these ordinary meetings, your Council made
arrangements to continue the special series of Popular Scientific
Lectures, similar to those given in former years. These have
been very well attended, both by the Members of the Society
(who were admitted free) and by the general public. They
have also proved successful pecuniarily. This satisfactory result
must be attributed to the kindness of the lecturers, who so
generously placed their services at the disposal of your Council.
The first of these special meetings was held on December loth,
1886, in the Young Men's Christian Association Hall, Welling-
ton Place, when Mr. Henry Seebohm, F,L.S., London, gave a
lecture on his "Adventures in Siberia." At the special request
of the Council, Mr. Seebohm kindly consented to give a second
lecture, subject " The Migration of Birds," in the same hall on
December 13th, 1886. The third meeting was held on Feb-
ruary 2nd, 1887, in the Ulster Minor Hall, when Mr. W. J.
Finlayson, of Johnstone, Renfrewshire, gave a lecture on '* Pho-
tography," illustrated by a large number of fine photographic
views taken by himself. The fourth meeting was held on Feb-
ruary 23rd, 1887, in the Ulster Minor Hall, when the Rev. W. S.
Afinua/ Report. 7
Green, M.A., delivered a lecture on " A Dredging Cruise in the
Atlantic," illustrated by a large number of original lantern slides.
The concluding meeting of the series was held on March 17th,
1887, in the Ulster Minor Hall, when Professor E. A. Letts,
Ph.D., gave a lecture on " Fermentation and Kindred Pheno-
mena," fully illustrated. Mr. James Meneely, Belfast, kindly
lent his powerful lantern and his services for both Mr. Finlay-
son's and the Rev. Mr, Green's lectures.
"The financial condition of the Society, as may be seen from
the Treasurer's report, continues to show steady improvement.
Your Council have let the room known as the Library to the
Ulster Medical Society for one year, from ist November, 1886,
reserving due access to the books for the Society's members at
all times. The number of smaller societies holding their
meetings in the Museum show no signs of decrease. The con-
siderable balance now carried forward will, no doubt, enable the
Council of next year to carry out the various much-needed
improvements so often deferred for want of funds.
"A list of donations to the Museum, and of publications from
the various leading Philosophical and Scientific Societies
throughout the world, is printed with the present Report.
The Council desire to thank the various donors for their valuable
gifts, and particularly Captain Robert Campbell, of the ship
*' Slieve Donard," who has again supplemented his previous
generous donations by presenting a number of rare East Indian
fishes and butterflies.
"Your Council arranged this year to have the .Museum opened
on Easter Saturday and Tuesday, in addition to Easter Mon-
day, at a nominal charge. Some friends, including the Ulster
Amateur Photographic Society, Messrs. J. Browne, J. M. M'Gee,
and T. F. Shillington, lent valuable exhibits, which had the
effect of increasing very considerably the number of visitors
and the receipts.
"The ceilings of some of the rooms have been thoroughly
repaired. A new book-case has been added to the library. The
Librarian has had the books carefully catalogued for some time,
and your Council would suggest the advisability of having the
8 Annual Report.
catalogue printed, so as to bring the books more under the
notice of the scientific public. A more pressing requirement,
however, is the question of printing the catalogue of Irish
antiquities, which would add very much to the interest of the
fine collection in the possession of your Society."
The Chairman, in the absence of Mr. Brown, Hon. Trea-
surer, read the financial statement, which showed a balance in
favour of the Society of jf 6 2 9s. 2d.
Mr. Henderson said he had great pleasure in moving the
adoption of the Report read by their Secretary, and also of the
Treasurer's statement of accounts. He was very much gratified
at the Report, and he thought they had reason to congratulate
themselves individually, and Mr. Young, their Secretary, in
particular, on the very large number of lectures that were
delivered during the past year, on their varied character, and
their general excellence. He must ask the members to receive
his apology for not coming far oftener to those lectures ; but
really when one has two or three meetings to attend in a week,
to come to a fourth is a little too much, and he found it
utterly impossible to attend more than once a month. He had
been present at two of the lectures during the year, and there
were some present who could support him when he said that
they were well delivered and most interesting ; while the
subjects discussed were calculated to benefit all who were
of an inquiring turn of mind. Mr. Young, their Secretary,
was kind enough to invite him (Mr. Henderson) to deliver
a lecture on his trip to America ; but he asked Mr. Young
to excuse him from doing so, as he hoped to go back and visit
that wonderful part of the country towards San Francisco.
He thought the two together would make a better lecture
than merely half the journey. The Treasurer's statement
was exceedingly satisfactory. It quite surprised him to find
an institution of that kind having a balance of £62 odd.
He trusted that those much-needed improvements, which it
was not necessary to enumerate, would be successfully carried
out, and that at next year's meeting thev would be able to con-
gratulate the members on the improved appearance of the
Annual Meeting. 9
building. He had much pleasure in moving the adoption of
the Reports.
Mr. William Gray, in seconding the motion, said he could
heartily endorse what had been said with reference to the value
of the papers brought before the Society itself, as well as the
special lectures. Indeed, the Society deserved the thanks of
the public for having enabled them to hear special lecturers of
great ability. The ordinary papers were interesting to the
members of the Association, but the special lectures were of
great value to the general public. Those delivered during the
year were exceedingly interesting. It was rather unfortunate
that they were obliged to change the place in which those
lectures were delivered, but he hoped it would not be long until
they would have an appropriate room provided by the town.
They had been very successful in providing a place for kindred
societies, such as the Naturalists' Field Club, who had been long
entertained in that establishment, as well as the Photographic
Society and the Medical Society. He believed they were carry-
ing out the views of the original promoters in giving every
facility to kindred societies to carry on their operations.
Mr. Robert Lloyd Patterson stated that he very cordially
and warmly agreed with what had fallen from Mr. Gray with
regard to the advantage derived by the Society, and the instruc-
tion given to the public by means of the series of scientific
lectures which had been delivered during the year. The fact
of the lectures being public gave persons not connected with
that Society an opportunity of hearing some of the best-
known men on different departments of science. He returned
his sincere thanks to Mr. Seebohm, of London, who had
delivered two lectures in Belfast ; and he wished to take that
opportunity of saying that he saw Mr. Seebohm in London last
week, and told him that they looked with great pleasure on
his recent visit to this town. Mr. Seebohm said it was his
intention to pay a visit to Africa, and get more information
about his favourite subject — the migration of birds. " He (Mr.
Patterson) requested Mr. Seebohm to pay Belfast another visit,
and although he did not say definitely that he would accede to
10 Annual Meeting.
the request, he did not say that he would not come. Mr.
Seebohm told him that he looked back with feelings of pleasure
on his late visit to Belfast, and said he was sure he would
experience the same pleasure if he came amongst them again.
The Report and statement of accounts were adopted.
PRESENTATION OF A PORTRAIT.
At the conclusion of the Annual Meeting the members met
in the lower room for the purpose of receiving from Mr. Richard
Hooke a portrait which he had painted of the late Mr. James
Macadam, a former President of the Society.
Mr. JosEi'H John Murphy, who presided, explained the
purpose for which they were met. The late Mr. James Mac-
adam was one of the founders of that Society, and he was a
gentleman to whom that Museum owed much. At the fiftieth
anniversary of the Society Mr. R. L. Patterson gave an
interesting account of its history, and among the names of the
seven original members was that of Mr. James Macadam, whose
portrait had been painted by Mr. Hooke, who was now about
to present it. The late Mr. Macadam continued a member up to
his death, in 1861. He was one of the best of our geologists,
and had a great knowledge of local geology. He contributed
many valuable specimens to that Museum. The Chairman then
called upon the artist to present the portrait.
Mr. Richard Hooke, who was well received, said when he
first thought of presenting that small gift to the Society he had
not the slightest expectation that he should be prominent in
the matter. He was anxious to secure for the portrait a favour-
able position in the light, which was very willingly granted.
However, when their courteous and energetic Secretary inti-
mated that there was a desire that he should personally present
the portrait, he felt very happy at being able to come and meet
some of the distinguished members of that Society. It was
not necessary that he should say more than that he felt very
happy at having it in his power to make the presentation of a
portrait of one of their most eminent men. He had been
employed a quarter of a century ago by the present Mr. Robert
Amtual Meeting. 1 1
Macadam to paint some portraits of his family, and a small
photograph of the subject of the painting was given to him to
enlarge. He made that a specimen portrait, which was a
necessary thing for all artists to have. It was hung at the
Manchester Exhibitions, and he dare say had he sent it to
London it would have been given a place in the Academy.
The style was rather out of fashion, and that made it suitable
for a museum. The date of the painting was 1863, and it was
now as fresh and bright as it was when painted.
Mr. W. H. Patterson stated that, as the late President, he
had the pleasure of accepting the portrait on behalf of the
Society, and of thanking Mr. Hooke most warmly for having
presented it. Not only had the picture expression, but it gave
an idea of the late Mr. Macadam's size, which portraits very
often did not do. He moved that the best thanks of the
Society be awarded to Mr. Hooke for his kindness in presenting
the Society with that fine portrait of their former President,
Mr. James Macadam.
Mr. Robert Young seconded the resolution, and said he had
great pleasure in doing so. He had been very intimate with
the late Mr. James Macadam from the time when he was at
the Belfast Academy. He was a very distinguished geologist,
and one who had taken great interest in that Society. The
portrait was a most admirable one, and he thought Mr. Hooke
was entitled to their warmest thanks He hoped that was only
the beginning of a series of portraits that they should have.
They ought to have portraits of their past Presidents.
Dr. S. Browne said he had much pleasure in accepting the
invitation to be present. He was a very intimate friend of the
late Mr. James Macadam, and he could say that the portrait
was a very true one. He had just had the pleasure of seeing
a portrait of Sir David Taylor, painted by Mr. Hooke, and it
was a most admirable likeness. He (Dr. Browne) was glad to
be present, and to have the opportunity of seeing that portrait
of one who had been an intimate and valued friend.
Mr. R. L. Patterson remarked that he had known Mr.
Macadam from his (Mr. Patterson's) earliest boyhood, and
1 2 Annual Meeting.
although twenty-six years had elapsed since he was removed
from amongst them, he had a distinct recollection of his former
face, of which that portrait was a most admirable representa-
tion. He thought Mr. Hooke had made a good beginning by
presenting to the Society that picture, and it was their sincere
wish that they should shortly see the portraits of former Presi-
dents of the Society adorning the walls of that Museum.
The resolution was unanimously passed, and
The meeting concluded.
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14
DONATIONS TO THE MUSEUM, 1886-87.
From Mr. Charles Bulla.
A number of fossil fish remains from the Carboniferous rocks
of Armagh.
From Capt. Robert Campbell, Master of the Ship " Slieve
DONARD."
One case of Indian insects {Lepidoptera and Coleoptera), one
cuttle-fish {Loltgo), one head of sword-fish {Istiophorus in-
dictis), two globe fish {Tetravdon), one porcupine fish
{Diodon), three sea-horses {Hippocampus), one cow-fish
(Osiracion), one hornet fish.
From Mr. William Darragh.
One stuffed specimen of the velvet scoter ( Oidemia ficsca), shot
in Belfast Bay.
From Mr. J. T. Erskine, Jordanstown.
One skin of python, from Brazil.
From Rev. Canon Grainger, D.D., M.R.I. A.
A collection of fossils, chiefly from the Carboniferous rocks of
Kildare.
From Professor Haddon, F.L.S., Dublin.
Several rare sea-urchins, and star-fish dredged off the south west
coast of Ireland.
From Dr. H. W. Luther.
One large flying fish.
From. J. G. Robertson, Esq., Kilkenny.
Cast of a bronze hatchet, and cast of a portion of the mouldings
of St. Canice, Kilkenny.
From Mr. S. A. Stewart.
Two stone implements found on the sandhills at Ballykinler,
Co. Down.
From Thomas Workman, Esq., J.P.
Eight bottles of land and marine animals, preserved in spirits.
From Messrs. Fitzpatrick.
Plated disc with engraved crest.
15
LIST OF BOOKS RECEIVED DURING THE YEAR.
Adelaide. — Transactions, Proceedings, and Report of the Royal
Society of South Australia. Vol 8, 1886. The Society.
Belfast. — Proceedings of Belfast Naturalists' Field Club.
Series 2, vol. 2, no. 6, 1886 The Club.
Belfast Society for Promoting Knowledge. Early
Belfast Printed Books, List no. i The Society.
Berlin. — Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft fur Erdkunde. Vol.
13, nos. 5 — 10, 1886 ; and vol. 14, no. i, 1887.
The Society.
Boston. — Proceedings of Boston Society of Natural History.
Vol. 23, part 2, 1886. J he Society.
Bremen. — Abhandlungen vom Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereine.
Vol. 9, part 4, 1887. The Society.
Breslau. — Zeitschrift fur Entomologie. New series, part 11,
1886. 7 he Society.
Brighton. — Annual Report of the Brighton and Sussex Natural
History Society, 1885-6. The Society.
Brookvii.le. — Bulletin of the Brookville (Indiana) Society of
Natural History, no. 2, 1886. The Society.
Brussells — Annales de la Societe Royale Malacologique de
Belgique. Vol. 20, 1885.
Bulletin de la Societe Royale de Botanique de Belgique.
Vol. 25, parts I and 2, 1886. The Society.
^ Comptes Rendu de la Societe Entomologique de Bel-
gique. Series 3, nos. 72-81. The Society
Buenos Ayres. — Boletin de la Acadeniia Nacional de Ciencias.
Vol 8, part 4, 1885. The Academy.
Calcutta. — Memoirs of the Geological Survey of India (Pa-
laeontologia Indica). Series 10, vol 4, parts i and 2,
series 12, vol. 4, part 2 ; series 13, nos. i and 6 ; series
14, vol. I, fasc. 6, 1886.
Records, vol. 19, part 4, 1886; vol. 20, part i, 1887.
Catalogue, 3 parts, 18S5 and 1886. The Survey,
1 6 Books Received.
Cambridge, U.S.A. — Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative
Zoology. Vol. 12, nos. 5 and 6 ; vol, 13, nos. i and 3.
Annual Report of the Curator, 1885-6. The Museum.
Cardiff. — Report and Transactions of the Cardiff Naturalists'
Society. Vol. 17, 1885.
Flora of Cardiff, 1886. The Society.
Cassell. — Bericht des Vereines fur Naturkunde zu Cassell, parts
31—33, 1884-6.
Festschrift des Vereines fur Naturkunde. The Society.
Christiana. — Forhandlinger i Videnskabs Selskabet, 1886.
The Society.
Dantzic. — Schriften der Naturforshendon Gesellschaft, new
series. Vol. 6, part 4, 1887. The Society.
Davenport, U.S.A. — Proceedings of the Davenport (Iowa)
Academy of Natural Sciences. Vol. 4, 1882-4.
The Academy.
Edinburgh. — Transactions and Proceedings of the Botanical
Society of Edinburgh. Vol. 16, part 3, 1886.
The Society.
Proceedings of the Royal Physical Society, Session 1885-
1886. The Society.
Astronomical Observations of the Royal Observatory,
being Vol. 15, for 1878 to 1886 (Star Catalogue, Dis-
cussion, an Ephemeris). The Observatory.
Essex. — Transactions of the Essex Field Club. Vol. 4, part 2,
1886, and Essex Naturalist, Nos. i — 4, 1887.
The Club.
Florence. — Bulletino della Societa Entomologica Italiana.
Trimestri 1 — 4, 1886, and i — 2, 1887. The Society.
Frankfort. — Naturwissenschaftlichen Vereines des Reg. Bez.
Vol. 4, No. 12, 1886-7. The Society.
Genoa. — Giornale della Societa di Letture e Conversazioni
Scientifiche di Genoa, anno 9, i semestre, fasc. 3 — 5,
. 2 semestre, fasc. 7, 8, 9, 11, 12, 1886-7. "^^^ Society.
Books Received. 17
GiESSEN. — Oberhessischen Gesellschaft fur Natur-and Heil-
kunde, 1886. The Society.
Glasgow. — Proceedings of the Philosophical Society of
Glasgow, Vol.17, 1885-6. The Society.
Hamburg. — Abhandlungen aus dem Gebiete der Naturwissen-
schaftlichen herausgegeben vom Naturwissenschaft-
lichen Verein, Vol. 9, parts i and 2, 1886. The Society.
KiEW. — Memoirs of the Naturalists' Society. Vol. 8, part 2.
The Society.
Lausanne. — Bulletin de la Societe Vaudoise des Sciences
Naturelle?. cier. 3, vol. 22, No. 24, 1886. The Society.
Leipsic— Mitheilungen des Vereins fur Erkkunde zu Leipzig,
1884 and 1885. The Society.
Sitzungsberichte der Naturforschendon Gesellschaft, 12th
year, 1886. The Society.
Liverpool. — Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical
Society. Vol. 39, 1885, and vol. 40, 1886.
The Society.
London. — Cooke's Illustrations of British Fungi. Nos. 42-48.
Lord Clermont.
Theory of Voltaic Action. J. Brown (Proc. Roy. Soc).
The Author.
Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society. Series 2,
vol. 6, parts 3 — 6, and 6a, 1886. Parts i and 2, 1887.
The Society.
Walford's Antiquarian. Vol. 2, no. 63, 1887.
The Publishers.
Proceedings of the Zoological Society. Parts 1-4,
1886. The Society.
Journal of Hydrotherapeutics. Vol. i, no. i, 1887.
The Publishers.
Manchester. — Transactions of the Manchester Geological
Society. Vol. 18, part 20, and vol. 19, parts 1-7,
1886-7. The Society.
1 8 Books Received.
Moscow. — Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale des Naturalistes.
No. 4, 1886 ; and no. i, 1887, also
Meteorologische Beobachtungen, 1886. The Society.
New York. — Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Vol. 3, nos. 9 — 12, 1885, and
Transactions of the New York Academy of Sciences.
Vol. 5, nos. 2—8, 1885-6. The Academy.
Bulletin of the American Geographical Society. No.
6, 1882 ; no. 7, 1883 ; no. 5, 1884 ; nos. 3 — 5, 1885 ;
nos. I — 3, 1886. The Society.
Odessa. — Memoirs of the New Russian Society of Naturalists.
Vol. 10, parts I and 2, 1885-6. Vol. 2, parts i and 2,
1886-7, also
Appendix to vol. 10 of Memoirs. The Society.
Padua. — Atti della Societa Veneto-Trentino di Scienze Naturali.
Vol. 10, fasc. 1, 1887 ; and
Bulletino. Vol. 3, no. 4. The Society.
Philadelphia. — Proceedings of the Academy of Natural
Sciences. Part 3, 1885 ; and parts i — 3, 1886.
The Academy.
Pisa. — Atti della Societa di Scienze Naturali, Processa Verbali.
Vol. 5, pp. 80 — 170, and 203 — 226. The Society.
Rome. — Atti della Reale Accademia dei Lincei. Series 4, vol.
2, fasc. I and 2, and 5 — 14, 1886 ; and vol. 3, fasc. i —
7, 1887. The Academy.
Journal of the British and American Archaeological
Society of Rome. Vol. i, no. i, 1886 The Society.
San Francisco — Bulletin of the California Academy of Sciences,
Vol. I, No. 4, and Vol. 2, No. 5, 1886. The Academy.
SoNDERHAUSEN. — Irmischia. Nos. 1 — 8, 1886. The Society.
Toronto. — Proceedings of the Canadian Institute. Ser. 3,
Vol. 3, fasc. 4 ; Vol. 4, fasc. i, 1886, and fasc. 2, 1887.
The Institute.
Trenton, N.J. — Journal of the Natural History Society. Vol. i ,
no. I, 1886. The Society.
Books Received. 19
Trieste. — Bolletino della Societa Adriactica di Scienze Natural!.
Vol. 9, nos. I and 2, 1X85 and 1886. The Society.
Venice. — Notarisia Commentarium Phycologium, no. 5, 1887.
The Society.
Vienna. — Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Geolo-
gischen Reichsanstalt. Nos. 7 — 18, 1886, and i — 4,
1887. The Society.
Verhandlungen der Kaiserlich Koniglichen Zoologisch-
botanischen Gessellschaft. Vol. 36, parts i — 6, 1886-7.
The Society.
Warwick. — Proceedings of the Warwickshire Naturalists' and
Archaeologists' Field Club, 1885. The Club.
Washington. — Report of the Department of Agriculture, 1885.
The Department,
Annual Report of the Smithsonian Institution, parts i
and 2, 1884. The Institution.
Third Annual Report of the Geological Survey of the
United States, 188 1-2. The Survey.
BELFAST
NATURAL HISTORY & PHILOSOPHICAL SOCIETY,
SESSION 1886—87.
2nd November, 1886.
The President, William H. Patterson, Esq., M.R.I.A.,
gave an Address on
SOME LATER VIEWS RESPECTING THE IRISH
ROUND TOWERS.
The President traced briefly the position of the round tower
controversy up to the period at which Dr. Petrie published his
essay. Dr. Petrie's arguments were then reviewed, as were the
subsequent writings on the same subject of Sir William Wilde,
Mr. Marcus Keane, and Mr. Henry O'Neill. Having referred
to the magnificent volumes of Lord Dunraven dealing with the
subject, the President directed attention to the more recent
writings of Miss Margaret Stokes. He proceeded — In 1878
Miss Margaret Stokes published her " Early Christian Archi-
tecture in Ireland." With this work was incorporated some of
the matter which Miss Stokes had already given to the world
in the concluding portion of Lord Dunraven's book. Miss
Stokes holds that the first round towers were erected in Ireland
soon after the first invasions of the Northmen for the protec-
tion of the religious communities against these Pagan invaders,
and that the erection of these church keeps or castles continued
for about three centuries — that is, from a little before the year
A.D. 900 to about A.D. 1200. In speaking of the state of archi-
tecture in Ireland at the close of the ninth century, Miss Stokes
says that, although the use of cement and the hammer was
known to Irish builders, the horizontal lintel had not yet been
superseded by the arch, and at this point we arrive at a class of
The Round Towers. 2i
buildings which forms a striking innovation in the hitherto
humble character of Irish church architecture — that is, the
lofty pillar tower. In the beginning of the present century the
existence of ii8 of these circular ecclesiastical towers was
asserted ; of these seventy-six remain to the present time in a
more or less perfect condition. Miss Stokes remarks that a
certain development of knowledge and skill in the art of build-
ing may be traced in these various examples, and that such
changes are analogous to those which took place in the church
architecture of Ireland after the eighth century. She then
attempts a rough classification of the existing round towers,
showing the gradation in masonry and the corresponding
changes in the character of the door and window opes. There
are four divisions into which the towers are classified. First
style — Rough field stones, untouched by hammer or chisel, not
rounded, but fitted by their length to the curve of the wall,
roughly coursed, wide-jointed, with spalds or small stones fitted
into the interstices. Mortar of coarse unsifted sand or gravel.
Second style — Stones roughly hammer-dressed ; rounded to
the curve of the wall ; decidedly, though somewhat irregularly,
coursed. Spalds, but often badly bonded together. Mortar
freely used. Third style — Stones laid in horizontal courses,
well dressed, and carefully worked to the round and batter ;
the whole cemented in strong plain mortar of lime and sand.
Fourth style — Strong, rough, but excellent ashlar masonry,
rather open-jointed, and therefore closely analogous to the
English-Norman masonry of the first half of the twelith cen-
tury ; or, in some instances, finest possible examples of well-
dressed ashlar. Sandstone in squared courses. Miss Stokes
then follows with what she calls a broad classification of the
towers according to the average styles of their masonry and
apertures. Those which belong to the first style of masonry
have doorways of the same material as the rest of the building ;
sometimes the stones are roughly dressed ; the door-opes are
square-headed, with inclined sides ; about 5ft. 6in. high by 2ft.
wide, and 8ft. to 13ft. above the level of the ground. In the
second and third styles of masonry there will be found in the
zz The Round Towers.
doorways the first idea of an arch, the curve being scooped out
of three or five stones ; the stones of the doorways are gene-
rally of some finer material than .the rest of the wall, and some-
times an architrave or moulding is introduced. In the fourth
style we find the doorways formed with a regular radiating
arch of six or more stones, with architrave, or fine examples of
the decorated Irish Romanesque of the twelfth century. Miss
Stokes considers that the following conclusions may be drawn
from those comparisons: — i. That these towers were built
after the Irish became acquainted with the use of cement and
the hammer. 2. That the towers were built at or about the
period of transition from the entablature style of the early Irish
period to the round-arched decorated Irish-Romanesque style.
3. That the largest number of these towers were built before
this transition had been established, and while the Irish
builders Were feeling their way to the arch. 4. That as this
transition took place between the time of Cormac O'Killen and
Brian Borumha — i.e., between a.d. 900 and 1000 — the first
groups of towers belong to the first date. The average thick-
ness of the wall at the base of the towers is from 3ft. 6in. to 4ft.
The usual diameter at the level of the doorway is from 7ft. to
9ft. internally. The towers taper, and their walls diminish in
thickness towards the top. In height the towers vary from
about 50ft. to over looft. Internally the towers were divided
into six or seven storeys. The floors, which were of wood,
were supported in one of three different ways. The beams
either rested on projecting abutments in the wall, or there were
holes for the joists ; or, thirdly, corbels or brackets supported
the floors. The height of the doorway above ground averages
13ft., but it varies considerably. The doorways always face the
entrance of the church to which they belong, unless in those
instances where the church is evidently much later than the
tower, and it is found that the position of the tower was usually
about 2oft. distant from the north-west corner of the church.
The name by which these towers are usually distinguished by
the writers of the Irish annals is " cloicthech," signifying bell-
house or belfry. There are numerous references in the annals
The Round Towers. 23
of disasters to these belfries by fire, lifrhtning, and other causes.
We also learn that persons took refuge in these towers, and
that sometimes the protection of the towers was sought in vain.
We can picture to ourselves the attacking party breaking in
the narrow door, even though fourteen or fifteen feet from the
ground, and introducing fire, which burned up the successive
wooden lofts, with the unfortunates who had crowded in for
refuge. We also find that the guardians of the church used
the tower as the safest place they had for the keeping of their
sacred utensils, relics of saints, manuscripts, croziers, and bells.
It is evident that the towers have suffered very much from the
eflfects of lightning. The old annalists have told us this, and
even in modern times several of the towers hav-e been greatly
injured by lightning. This is not surprising. The only won-
der is, considering the length of time they have stood stretch-
ing towards the clouds, that they have not suffered very much
more than they have done. The tall shaft of masonry and
pointed roof must offer a very dangerous attraction to the
electric current. Probably our moist climate and consequent
comparative immunity from severe thunderstorms may have
helped to preserve so many of our round towers in a very per-
fect condition. Dr. Petrie cites a passage from Colonel Mont-
morency's writings showing his idea as to the impregnable
nature of the tall circular tower. We have seen by the extracts
from our annals that in some cases the tower was not absolutely
impregnable. He writes — "The pillar tower as a defensive hold,
taking into account the period that produced it, may fairly pass
for one of the completeet inventions that can well be imagined.
Impregnable every way, and proof against fire, it could never
be taken by assault. Although the abbey and its dependencies
blazed around, the tower disregarded the fury of the flames.
Its extreme height, its isolated position, and diminutive door-
way, elevated so many feet above the ground, placed it beyond
the reach of a destroyer. The signal once made announcing
the approach of a foe by those who kept watch at the top, the
alarm spread instantaneously, not only among the inmates of
the cloister, but the inhabitants were roused to arms in the
^4 The Round Towers.
country for many miles around." Sir Walter Scott writes : —
" These towers might possibly have been contrived for the
temporary retreat of the priests, and the means of protecting
the holy things from destruction on the occasion of alarm,
which in those uncertain times suddenly happened and as sud-
denly passed away." And to this Miss Stokes adds : — " Con-
sisting of a series of small chambers, one above the other, at a
height above ground, they were fitted for places of storage for
the sacred things of the church, places of passive defence for
the aged and weak, and could afford temporary shelter for from
forty to eighty persons from the attacks of an enemy only
armed with bows and arrows, and such weapons as we know
were in use at the time in the North- West of Europe." After
a very full and careful survey of all the matters connected with
this subject, Miss Stokes writes : — *' The conclusion drawn
from all these data being that such towers, though constructed
from time to time over a considerable period, and undergoing
corresponding changes in detail, were first built at the close of
the ninth century, and that a number seem to have been
erected simultaneously ;" and again, in speaking of the first
arrivals of Danish invaders in this country — " In the beginning
of the ninth century a new state of things was ushered in, and
a change took place in the hitherto unmolested condition of
the Church. Ireland became the battlefield of the first struggle
between Paganism and Christianity in Western Europe, and
the result of the effort then made in defence of her faith is
marked in the ecclesiastical architecture of the country by the
apparently simultaneous erection of a number of lofty towers,
rising in strength of ' defence and faithfulness ' before the door-
ways of those churches most likely to be attacked. The first
descent of the Northmen upon Ireland was in 795, when a
party of them sailed across from Wales and plundered the
church on the Island of Lambay, near Dublin. The Welsh
annals record that the black pagans first came to the Island of
Britain from Denmark, and made great ravages in England.
Afterwards they entered Glamorgan, and there killed and
burnt much ; but at last the Cymry conquered them, driving
The Round Towers. 25
them into the sea. From thence they went to Ireland, and
devastated Recheryn and other places. Three years afterwards,
according to O'Flaherty's chronology — i.e.., in 798 — they plun-
dered the Isle of Man and the Hebrides. In 802 they burned
lona, and again in 806 plundered the same island, but
not without resistance, for sixty-eight of the monastic society
of the island were slain. The following year, 807, they entered
for the first time the mainland of the West and South of Ire-
land, and, having plundered the Island of Inishmurry, off the
coast of Sligo, they advanced inland as far as Roscommon. In
812 and 813 we find them in Connaught and Munster, where
they suffered more than one defeat from the native chieftains.
Finally, in 815, or, according to other accounts, in 830, a Nor-
wegian leader called by the Irish writers Thorgils, which name
was Latinised Turgesius, established himself as sovereign of the
foreigners, and made Armagh the capital of his kingdom. For
the purpose of strengthening his position, he placed detach-
ments of his forces at Limerick, at Lough Ree, on the Shan-
non ; at Dundalk Bay, Carlingford, Lough Neagh, and Dublin.
For four years Thorgils was able to maintain himself at
Armagh, and during this time, by taking command of his fleet
on Lough Ree, he plundered all the great ecclesiastical establish-
ments upon the banks of the Shannon, and, having seized the
Abbey of Clonmacnoise, and burnt its oratories, he left his wife
as sovereign there. This lady's name was Ota, and, according
to the ancient record, she gave her audiences, or answers, from
the high altar of the principal church of the monastery. Dur-
ing this time, and afterwards, reinforcements continued to
reach the Scandinavians in Ireland from their own country."
About 837 a fleet of sixty-five ships landed at Dublin, and a few
years later an Irish scribe wrote that there was not a point in
Ireland without a fleet, and that the sea seemed to vomit forth
floods of invaders. From this time on for about two centuries
we hear of continued invasions of the Northmen, and there
seems to have been no part of the country into which their
marauding bands did not pass. The monasteries, being the
receptacles of most of the wealth of the country, were
^ The Round Towers.
constantly visited and plundered by them. The two nations of
Northmen are represented as hostile to each other, and battles
between them took place frequently in Irish waters or on the
mainland. But these feuds did not interfere with their main
object, which was the persistent plundering of the country, and
the carrying away as slaves of thousands of men, women, and
children. We find that Armagh was plundered by the Danes
in seventeen different years from a.d. 833 to 1016, and it was
attacked three times in one month. The church of Maghera
was attacked three times in one month. Clonard, the seat of
one of the great schools in Ireland, was invaded seven times
from 838 to 1020. Before the year 900 the Norsemen had first
ravaged the coast and the outlying islands, and then their boats
were repeatedly seen on the Boyne, the Liffey, and the Shan-
non. In the valleys of these rivers distinct groups of these
towers and churches are to be seen that had been for the first
seventy years of this war attacked and desecrated with such
fury. After reviewing some historical records as to the build-
ing of certain towers and peculiarities in their construction,
Miss Stokes writes : — " Thus we find three distinct periods to
which these towers may be assigned — first, from a.d. 890 to
927 ; secondly, from 973 to 1013 ; thirdly, from 1178 to 1238 ;
and of these three periods the first two were marked by a cessa-
tion of hostilities with the Northmen, while the Irish made
energetic efforts to repair the mischief caused by the invasions
of the heathen. It is clear that these three divisions are dis-
tinctly marked by three steps in the progressive ascent of
architecture, from the primitive form of the entablature to that
of the decorated Romanesque arch. The churches built by
Cormac O'Killen are characterised by the horizontal lintel ; the
church of King Brian, at Iniscaltra, with its still partially
developed Romanesque doorway and chancel arch, while re-
taining the rude form in its minor apertures, marks a period of
transition from the horizontal to the round arched style ; and
the buildings of Queen Dervorgilla and Turlough O'Connor,
with the doorway of Clonfert, show what the latter style
became in the lifetime of Donough O'CarroU. If Lusk, Glen-
The Round Towers. 27
dalough, Timahoe, and Ardmore are taken as types of this
gradation in the towers, we see such signs of progress as lead to
the beHef that a certain interval of time had intervened between
the first and last mentioned of those erections." Miss Stokes
concludes one portion of her work in the following words : —
" There is, perhaps, no question of early Christian archaeology,"
writes Mr. Fergusson, " involved in such obscurity as that of
the introduction and use of towers." The difficulty of clearing
away such obscurities has arisen chiefly from the want of
monuments remaining on the Continent to show what were the
earliest types in Western Europe. The light that Ireland
might cast upon the subject has not yet made itself felt, because
of the uncertainty that has too long lingered about the history
of her towers. Dr. Petrie, by his investigations, brought their
date down from a pre-Christian time to a period ranging from
the sixth to the thirteenth century, and firmly established their
ecclesiastical character. Lord Dunraven traced the type from
Ireland, through France to Ravenna, thereby proving it analo-
gous to that of buildings belonging to an historic period else-
where. But he felt that the area was far too wide over which
Dr. Petrie had extended the practice of erecting these struc-
tures, and was gradually arriving at the conclusion that such
masonry as they exhibit was not to be found in Ireland before
the ninth or tenth century, and that her decorated Romanesque
churches belong to the eleventh and twelfth. Starting from ■
the standpoint of these two archaeologists, we may arrive at
conclusions which give to these towers their true place in his-
tory. From these noble monuments the historian of Christian
art and architecture may learn something of the work of a time
the remains of which have been swept away elsewhere, and it
may yet be seen, as in the case of her institutions, customs,
faith, and forms in art, so in architecture, Ireland points to
origins of noble things.
28
'jth December^ 1886.
W. H. Patterson, Esq., M.R.I.A., in the Chair.
Thomas Workman, Esq., J.P., read a Paper on
EASTERN REMINISCENCES, CHINA AND MANILLA.
Mr. Workman remarked that when last before them his
reminiscences were of India and Burmah. He would now
proceed still further to the East. He would try to enable them
to realise what the world is like almost as far round as the anti-
podes, and possibly beyond, where Shakspere thought of when
he said, '* One touch of nature makes the whole world kin,"
though he was somewhat inclined to add, in the words of a more
recent poet, "Where every prospect pleases and only man is
vile." In January, 1884, he entered the beautiful Bay of Manilla,
and he could well sympathise with the expressions of joy and
pride with which his Spanish fellow-travellers greeted " Les
Philipines," as they called the Philipine Islands. It is a most
lovely sight, and the entrance is exceedingly narrow, though
the bay opens into an enormous sheet of water more than
fifty miles across. At the entrance of the inner harbour a
simple monument has been erected to the memory of the great
Spanish navigator Magellan, who was killed in one of these
islands in 152 1. He (Mr. Workman) was much amused at the
masher costume of the young Manillan, who is to be seen gaily
going about the streets in the airy costume of a pair of trousers
and a very white shirt, the latter garment being worn quite
loose, and forming a light overcoat.
The lecturer next proceeded to give a minute description of
Eastern Reminiscences. 29
pile dwellings, observing that all the native buildings are pile
dwellings, or modifications of them, and no doubt were first
invented as an expedient for raising houses in the water for pro-
tection ; but when the race which for generations had dwelt
surrounded by water took to living on dry land, the ancient pat-
tern of architecture was followed with slavish exactness. In
these houses what would seem almost an impossibility is never-
theless a fact. The ground floor is an addition to the first story;
the verandah serves an important purpose, inasmuch as it is the
representative of the platform originally intended for the inhabi-
tants to land on from their canoes. Mr. Mossley, who is a
great authority on such matters, points out the remarkable
resemblance of many of these pile dwellings to Swiss chalets.
In the Swiss chalet the basement, enclosed with stone walls, is
usually only a cattle stall. The first story is the dwelling-house,
and, as in the pile building, it is constructed of wood. It seems
possible that the chalet is the ancient lake-dwelling gone on
shore — like the Philipine pile dwelling — and that the sub-
structure of masonry represents the piles which formerly sup-
ported the inhabited portion of the house. There are similar
balconies in the chalets, representing possibly the platforms.
It seems probable that the idea of pile dwellings has in many
cases arisen through the escape of natives from enemies by
getting into a canoe or raft, and putting off from shore out of
harm's way. If the attacked had to stay in such a raft or
canoe for some time, they would anchor it in shallow water
with one or more poles, and hence might have easily been
derived the idea of a platform supported on poles.
The lecturer next graphically described his voyage from
Manilla to Hong Kong, which was intensely disagreeable. His
first view of Hong Kong greatly surprised him, for somehow or
other he expected only a low-lying dirty city, entirely devoid of
interest, but in this he was mistaken. The curiously shaped
boats in the harbour are of great interest, and mostly manned
by the families of their owners. Many of these family boats
(sampans) are not over 20 feet in length, and some even shorter,
built with a low deck, so as not to have more than three feet head-
3© Eastern Reminiscences.
room below. He was not aware whether the occupants slept in
this low hut, or under a 4-feet long swing immediately in front
of the stern. The city of Victoria is situated at the base of
a hill rising steeply to a height of over 1,800 feet. It is some-
what like, if one could imagine, the waters of the Belfast
Lough rising to the level of the Antrim Road, and the town
built between it and the steep rocks of the Cave Hill. When
he ascended the hill, which he took an early opportunity of
doing, he was almost afraid of setting a stone in motion in case
he might bring swift destruction on the houses below. He
proceeded to describe the town, elaborately commenting, espe-
cially on the Botanic Gardens. The streets of Hong Kong
reminded him of the streets of Malta, with its flights of steps
and narrow ways, along which no carriage can go, so that
locomotion is restricted to walking and driving in jinrickshas,
something like an overgrown perambulator, or being carried in
a chair slung on poles. Chairs made of cane are slung on
very long lance poles, and are very comfortable. In the
streets one sees a few Chinese women tottering on their small
distorted feet, just like goats' hoofs ; but there seem to be
two distinct races, for there are many women that do not at
all compress their feet. Chinese men of the upper classes have a
great dislike to manual labour, and, to show that they are
quite above such undignified work, it is considered the proper
thing to allow the finger nails to grow to an extraordinary
length, so that it is not uncommon to see Chinese gentlemen
with nails projecting two or three inches beyond their finger
tips. While in Hong Kong he took the opportunity of hear-
ing a sermon in Chinese. The sound is very strange, being
quite unlike any other language he had heard. It is a mono-
syllabic language, and seems greatly to want in expression.
It seemed to him to run thus : — " Chuck, lick, sim, sam, sang,
he, kang, whang." The lecturer gave several other amusing
illustrations of the Chinese language.
On the evening of the 14th January he set out for Canton on
board the s.s. " Powhan." The centre of the steamer was
occupied by Chinese passengers. From that part the forecastle
Eastern Remtntscences. 3^
and poop were divided off by massive bulkheads, pierced so that
the European crew and passengers might at any moment pour
in a destructive fire on their Chinese fellow-travellers. The
appearance of Canton far exceeded anything in the way of cities
he had seen ; it was truly astonishing ; a scene of prodigious life
and activity. At Canton foreigners live on a little island called
Shameen, which is separated from the town by a canal, over
which there are two or three bridges, strongly protected by
gates, which are closed every night. These gates were put up
recently, he believed, because the mob came over from Canton
and had destroyed many of the European houses. This attack
was not, however, altogether unprovoked. He had a letter of
introduction to a gentleman, who kindly provided a chair with
the two bearers and a guide to take him to see the various
sights of the city. Soon they reached the midst of the town,
with its million and a half of inhabitants on a very little larger
area than the town of Belfast. If one were to imagine Bridge
Street reduced to the breadth of a narrow lane, lower the tops of
the houses to the level of the shop windows, take out all the win-
dows, leaving the shops open, and in some parts roofed to keep
off the sun, and then down the sides of the shops and from
overhead hang countless boards emblazoned with golden and
red characters telling of the class of goods sold within ; sprinkle
a good deal of scent over all (not attar of roses), then cram the
place with people, and behold Canton. The whole passage was
one of knock, jostle, crush, but, being seated on a good chair,
he was indifferent. When buying from the Chinese one has to
keep his wits about him, as the Chinese are smart at all sorts
of swindles. He saw a dog and a nice clean little puppy hung
up for sale in a butcher's shop. He saw also a rat hung up for
sale. Yet Chinese do not eat dirty things, and they set a good
example in the clean and tidy way in which they put out meat
and vegetables for sale. A duck hung up for sale in Canton
appears not unlike a flatfish, owing to the way it has been
prepared for the market. A common article of food is the
cuttle-fish. The shops are very numerous. In the furniture
shops there are beautifully carved chairs and tables made of
^2 Eastern Reminiscences.
dark wood, which, he believed, came from Singapore. There
are shops for the sale of jadestone and other ornaments ; jade
is very highly valued by the Chinese, and is a very hard
semi-transparent stone, of a dark green colour. While speak-
ing of ornaments, it might be interesting to his audience to
state that on 6th May, 1850, the late Mr. Getty, an old and
valued member of the Society, read an interesting paper on
certain seals found in Ireland, and supposed to be of Chinese
manufacture. Mr. Fortune, in his account of the Chinese,
says : — '* There cannot be the slightest doubt that these seals
have lain in bogs and rivers of Ireland for many ages. The
peculiar white or cream coloured porcelain of which they are
composed has not been made in China for several hundred
years. They are very rare in China at the present day." There
are also in Canton shops for ivory carving and amber work.
The most beautiful sort of work to be seen in the Canton shops
is the embroidery. There are numerous coffin shops, for the
undertaking business is not done in the retired fashion ob-
taining in this country. A Chinese coffin is a very ponderous
affair, and apparently more ornamental than useful. It is
formed of trunks of trees, eighteen inches in diameter, cut in
two, and chamfered at the edge, and the flat part slightly hol-
lowed out. Four of these slabs joined at the edges go to form
the coffin, and two square pieces of wood fill up the ends.
There are numerous eating-houses, some of which supply only
the flesh of cats and dogs. One restaurant is known by the
name of Whoon-Hang-Kau-Maau-Yunk-Poo, which means the
sign of the dog, cat, flesh eating-house. Nearly all burdens are
carried on the shoulder suspended at the end of a bamboo pole,
and, if possible, the article is divided in two, and a part put on
each end. The temples of Canton are not wonderful either for
size or beauty. The temple of the 500 genii is well known. A
geni means a very wise man. Among these 500 worthies is an
effigy of the old Venetian traveller, Marco Polo. Another
temple visited was that of the five genii and the five rams. It
was from these five rams that the city took its name. The paper
concluded with a brief statement of the legend of the five rams
Eastern Reminiscences. 33
and five genii. Mr. Workman added greatly to the value of his
paper by employing, as he proceeded, lantern and photographic
illustrations.
The Rev. Canon Grainger made some valuable remarks on
the Chinese seals found in Ireland. He said that in 1720 a
Dublin tea merchant was reported to have sent out a great
number of these seals.
3+
^th January^ 1887.
W. H. Patterson, Esq., M.R.I.A., in the Chair.
Alexander B. Wilson, Esq., read a Paper on
POWER.
Mr. Wilson said the subject of his remarks, " Power and
its Transmission," was too wide to be dealt with in the Hmits
of such a paper, except in a very brief way. He had intended
to deal particularly with the subject of compressed air as a
power, but, fearing that the question would perhaps be too
strictly technical and uninteresting if treated alone, and
having regard also to his own connection with the Bir-
mingham Compressed Air Company, he had concluded to
deal with the matter in a more general way, rather than with
especial regard to the most interesting advances in engineering
which are going on in the Midland metropolis. Mr. Wilson
then proceeded to explain the different terms used in con-
nection with power, as *' horse-power," " foot tons," &c. James
Watt and the engineers of his time adopted the expression
" horse-power " as the most convenient term by which to
convey to the mill and mine owners the capabilities of their
engines. The original value of a " horse-power " was based on
the work it was estimated a healthy horse could do in a working
day, and it was therefore based on two quantities — work and
time. In engineering a horse-power consists in the power to
raise 33,000 pounds one foot in one minute, or 19,800,000 pounds
one foot in a working day of ten hours. This is far too high
an estimate of the work of a horse, for it would mean the
capability of raising four tons in one day of ten hours to a
height equal to that of Divis.
Mr. Wilson then went on to speak of the power developed
Power and its Transmission. 35
by gunpowder in cannon, which is measured by artillerists
in " foot tons." One of the lOO-tons guns manufactured by
Sir William Armstrong's firm for the Italian Government
developed and communicated to a target placed lOO yards away
a power equal to 40,000 foot tons. This power, if able to be
maintained continuously, would be immense ; for the energy
developed by one discharge only of this gun would be sufficient
to lift, say, either of the Liverpool steamships Caloric and
Optic, weighing, with cargo, coal, crew, and passengers, some
1,410 tons, to a height of thirty-one feet in ten seconds. Unfor-
tunately, however, this great source of power is applicable to few
except warlike purposes.
The supply and sale of power for manufacturing and indus-
trial purposes is of quite recent development, but has already
become a recognised system in many large towns where manu-
factures or works are carried on. It is cheaper for manu-
facturers using only a small quantity of power to purchase
than to produce it ; but there is a point where, from the
amount required, it becomes more economical to produce than
to purchase. In Belfast, perhaps from the fact that fuel is
dearer than in towns in England and Scotland adjacent to col-
lieries, or perhaps from the shrewdness of the mill-owners, more
care is exercised in the economical production of steam-power
than in any other town of the three kingdoms. Even in London,
where fuel is dearer, the cost of the production of power is far
more than proportionately greater. Mr. Wilson then showed
by means of a blackboard the proportionate cost of steam-power
per year power units in London, Birmingham, Glasgow, and
Belfast. From this it appeared that in London the cost per
horse-power per annum for engines of six hundred horse-
power ranges from /4 1 5s. 6d. to £■] 7s., in Birmingham
from ^3 13s. to ^5 IIS. 2d., in Glasgow from ^2 14s. to/5 8s.,
and in Belfast from £z los. to £^ bs. He pointed out how
rapidly the cost proportionately increases with the decrease of
the amount produced. For instance, the year power unit —
that is to say, the cost of one horse-power for three hundred
hours — in small engines of 25 horse-power and under frequently
3^6 Power and its Transmission.
amounts to £2i^ in London and £2% in Birmingham, being
proportionately reduced in larger engines. The cost of gas power
may be taken as ^26 in London, and ^20 is. lod. in Birming-
ham, ^19 los. in Glasgow, and;^24 in Belfast per year power
unit.
Referring at length to the production and development of
steam-power, Mr. Wilson said that during the last twenty-
five years, except in some minor points of construction, the
form and performance of boilers has been unaltered, tubular
boilers having then taken the place of flue, and steel has since
superseded iron as the material employed in their manu-
facture, and enabled much higher pressure to be carried with
safety. Much, moreover, has been accomplished in marine
engineering in the development of power, especially by the use
of compound engines. It may be mentioned that, while the
quantity of fuel to produce a pound of steam at 160 pounds
pressure is only 3 per cent, more than that necessary for the
production of a pound of steam at 30 pounds pressure, the avail-
able power obtainable from steam at 160 pounds is nearly 100 per
cent, more than from that at 30 pounds. It is for this reason
that high-pressure engines have become so generally used, and
though the advantages of such pressures were known long
ago, they could not be utilised, owing largely to the want of a
proper oil. Steam at 30 pounds pressure has a temperature of
274" Fahrenheit, and at 160 pounds pressure of about 370°. Of
the animal and vegetable oils applicable for lubricating purposes,
some of them at the lower temperature answer sufficiently what
is required, while at the higher they become completely car-
bonised and turn into gas. It was not, therefore, until some of
the products of petroleum were brought into use that this
difficulty was overcome. The only rival, and that an insignifi-
cant one, able to hold its own at all hitherto with steam as a
power for manufacturing and propelling agency is gas. In
gas engines the motive power is developed by an explosion of
a mixture of gas and air below the piston of a vessel resembling
a steam cylinder. Some manufacturers claim to be able to
work with 22 cubic feet of gas per horse-power, but this he had
Power and its Transmission. 37
found by experiment was too low, and he thought that about 30
cubic feet would be about the average. This would bring the
cost of gas up to ^20 per year power unit. Mr. Wilson went on to
explain at length the principles, advantages, and disadvantages
of the gas-engine. Among its advantages might be placed the
absence of a necessity for a boiler, with its dirt, heat, trouble,
and danger, and this makes it favoured in many small concerns.
As at present constructed, however, the gas-engine can never
enter into competition with steam for heavy work.
Speaking next of the distribution of power, Mr. Wilson said it
was not until the experiments of the Compressed Air-Power Com-
pany were made (with which experiments he had himself been
connected) that it was discovered that the cost of production in
small concerns in general was so large as it turns out to be, a
fact which was greatly due to the full amount produced not being
constantly required, as well as to unskilful management, and
other causes. When the figures were published which proved
this, and the Compressed Air- Power Company offered to supply
such manufacturers with power at £1^ per year power unit,
demand was immediately made for 4,000 horse-power on these
terms. Various means have been used for the supply of power in
this wa)'. First, steam sent in mains through the streets from
a central supply ; secondly, compressed air laid on in the same
way, the compression being effected at a central station ;
thirdly, water supplied by pipes from a central pumping sta-
tion, and used to drive hydraulic machinery. The first plan
has found some favour in the United States, and the divi-
dends of the companies thus supplying power have been
from 5 to 24 per cent. However, there are so many cli-
matic causes to militate against such a system in these coun-
tries that it can never be thoroughly successful. The second,
that of compressed air pumped into mains at a pressure of
45 pounds above the atmosphere, and delivered in the same way
as gas, has, he believed, the largest future before it of any of the
three. For all purposes to which steam is applicable, except
that of heating, compressed air is equally available. Yet while
unsuitable for heating, it may frequently be utilised for the pro-
38 Power and its Transmission.
duction of cold. It does not suffer, as steam does, from radia-
tion and condensation. The first development to any large
extent was in connection with the boring of the Mont Cenis
Tunnel. From this it has extended to a variety of uses where
power is required, more especially in coal mines, where to
a distance of three miles or more from the mouth of the pit
power of any other kind would be impossible to transmit. After
the investigations to which he had referred had been made, the
Birmingham Company obtained an Act of Parliament, with the
sanction of the municipal authorities, for the construction of the
necessary works to utilise the system for supplying power to
Birmingham manufacturers. It was calculated that of the
amount of compressed air transmitted from the central station,
a maximum percentage of 84 per cent, could be obtained by
the consumer. The average price they proposed to charge
is fivepence per thousand cubic feet, and this would entail
to the consumer a cost of £(i 14s. 6d. on the best per-
centage, andj^iy on the minimum percentage per horse-power
per annum. The system would not be economical applied to
large engines of 100 horse-power and over. There are two very
strong recommendations in this system most satisfactory to
the consumer : — these are, that the quantity supplied can be
measured with the accuracy of a first-class gas meter; — and
that no heat or fire can arise from it. Speaking of power
as developed by water under high pressure and available
for supply, Mr. Wilson said this arrangement was first car-
ried out at Hull, and has since been worked in other towns,
but it is very expensive ; — the use of a hydraulic motor
involves a year power unit cost of from ^40 to £(>o. As for
electricity, it remains for some future Watt to devise a plan
whereby it can be produced and applied as a force with suflfi-
cient economy to compete with the other sources of power.
In the foregoing remarks the cost of the year power unit is
in all cases taken as including coal, oil, stores, labour, deprecia-
tion at 5 per cent., and interest on outlay at 5 per cent In the
larger class of engines the two latter items in some cases exceed
the whole of the former, while as they reduce in size the pro-
portion of coal cost rises rapidly.
The Antrim Gravels. 39
With respect to the use of compressed air, and specially as
comparing it with hydraulic supply, for the use of motors : —
In the case of air, the ordinary steam engine, with unimportant
alterations, is used, so that the system may be applied to already
existing engines, whereas with water special machines have to
be provided. Again, air is elastic, and for varying loads on the
same engine can be used more or less expansively ; water, being
inelastic, each stroke of a hydraulic motor uses the same quan-
tity whether the load be light or heavy. The pipe friction of
water as compared with air is roughly in proportion to their
densities : taking the former as supplied at 700 lbs. of pressure
per square inch and the latter at 45 lbs., the ratio is as 200 to i.
The energy contained in a cubic foot of water at that pressure is
but 15^ times that in a cubic foot of air worked even non-expan-
sively, or say eight times that of air worked to best advantage,
while its pipe, port, and valve friction is 200 times as great ; and,
lastly, in hydraulic high-pressure supply there is no reservoir ; —
the accumulators used can only hold a few seconds' supply ; —
whereas in air the whole of the mains laid in the streets form
a vast receptacle from which supply may be taken for a con-
siderable time without serious reduction in pressure.
4/^ January^ 1887.
W. H. Patterson, Esq., M.R.I. A., in the Chair.
The Rev. Canon Grainger, D.D., M.R.I. A., read a Paper on
A QUESTION CONCERNING THE ANTRIM
GRAVELS.
Rev. Canon Grainger read a paper on "The Antrim
Gravels," referring to the absence of the characteristic
stratification near the surface of gravel hills, and attributing it
to the action of sub-glacial rivers at a late glacial period.
Canon Grainger also exhibited a most interesting collection of
Chinese, Indian, and other antiquarian specimens, including a
magnificent set of jade axes and other instruments.
40
ist February^ 1887.
W. H. Patterson, Esq., M.R.I.A., in the Chair.
Seaton Forrest Milligan, Esq., read a Paper on
RECENT ARCH^OLOGICAL EXPLORATIONS IN
COUNTY SLIGO.
Mr. Milligan said : — The opening meeting of the present
Session of this Society was inaugurated by an address from the
President on " Some Later Ideas Concerning the Round Towers,"
when the theories propounded by various writers on this subject
were fully discussed. It has occurred to me since this paper
was read, that amongst people not conversant with the subject
the notion largely prevails that the round towers are the most
ancient stone buildings in Ireland. This idea is not by any
means accurate, as we have other remains of circular stone
buildings or forts that were hoary with the lapse of centuries
before the first round tower had its foundation laid.
I am considerably within the mark when I state that there are
structures of this class existing in Ireland for more than 2,000
years. If the Annals of the Four Masters are accurate, we have
one in Ulster — the Grimian of Aileach, the building of which
was completed 1,700 years before the birth of our Lord. These
structures have not been written about so extensively as the
round towers, and there is less of mystery as to their erection
and use. We have not so many perfect examples of them as
the round towers ; many are dilapidated, and others have only
their foundations left to show where once they stood ; but the
remains that are left point to a period and a civilisation long
departed. I refer to the Cashels, or, as they were commonly
known to the ancient Irish, the Cathairs, of which I will have
Recent Archceological Explorations in Co. Sligo. 41
something further to say, having found five of them, or, more
strictly speaking, the remains of five Cashels, not previously
described. I will also refer to certain sepulchral structures, such as
giants' graves, of wMch I have found a few examples, and another
class of stone structures, scarcely if ever referred to by Irish
archaeologists, which will be rather a new feature to bring before
you. I refer to alignments, or lines of standing stones. All
these monuments are situated in the county of Sligo, within a
radius of five miles from the town of Sligo. Alignments have
been found in great numbers in the Department of the Mor-
bihan, in Brittany, particularly in the vicinity of the village of
Carnac, in the same district. They have been a puzzle to
archaeologists as to their use and the motives which led to their
erection. I have a hope that the study of Irish alignments will
tend to throw some light on these rude stone monuments of
ancient times. I have examined a series of photos of alignments
in Brittany, from which I have selected three that resemble
those in Sligo, which I will place before you on the screen for
comparison. The only structure I will refer to previously
described is the great megalithic monument in the Deer-park of
Hazlewood, concerning which I shall have some further addi-
tional facts to place before you.
"County Sligo possesses many places of great interest and
beauty; bold cliffs, romantic dells, as at Glencar and Knock-
narea ; well-wooded demesnes, as at Hazlewood ; lakes of rare
beauty, which yet differ widely in feature, from the cultivated
and picturesque surroundings of Lough Gill to the gloomy, wild
tarns of Lough Easkey and Lough Talt. Mountain, sea, lake,
and wood combine to render the scenery attractive. It affords
a field of study to the botanist, the painter, and the antiquarian.
In the mountains are rare ferns and Alpine plants. It possesses
the most picturesque and varied landscapes, and abounds in
objects of striking interest to the antiquarian. Some of the
earliest seats of Christian learning are to be found within its
limits, as also several of the earliest known Pagan monuments,
contrasting in their hoar antiquity with the remains of castles
and fortified houses of the settlement which belongs to the
42 Recent Archceological Explorations in Co. Sligo.
nearer epochs." Such is a condensed description of the county
taken from Col. Wood Martin's recent History of Sligo, I have
known the county Sligo for many years : its lakes, rivers, moun-
tains, glens, and its warm-hearted and hospitable people, and I
must say that I do not in Ireland or elsewhere know of any
other district I would prefer to it for spending an instructive
and enjoyable holiday. By whatever road the visitor approaches
the county Sligo lovely scenery meets his view; the old coach-road
by Manorhamilton is very beautiful, " over the Irish Alps," as a
driver of Bianconi's used to designate the picturesque pass of
Marah.
The route by Dromore West, Screen, and Ballysadare, with
its ancient church and magnificent cascades, is also fine. But
the most charming road of all is that of Bundoran, Cliffony,
Grange, and Drumcliffe. On our left as we proceed this way,
we have a splendid mountain range nearly all the v/ay. Ben-
weeskin, Benbulbin, and Turskmore, are the most prominent
heights, ranging from 1,722 to 2,213 ^^et above the level of the
sea. Should we ascend Benbulbin, which is comparatively easy,
what an extensive prospect meets our view ! To the west is the
broad Atlantic, to the north-west the Bay of Donegal, protected
on its western side by the magnificent mountain of Slieve
Leagh, whose perpendicular cliffs on the seaward side are almost
2,000 feet in height. We can observe in the far distance in
Mayo the high cone of Nephin, and further still lying off the
Erris coast the stags of Broadhaven. Nearer us, to the south,
is the range of the Ox Mountains, also Knocknarea, with its
huge cairn, Miscaun Meabh, at the base of which lies Carrow-
more, with its ancient monuments of the battle of North
Moyturah.
Right under us, towards the east, is Glencar valley, with its
waterfalls, lake, and crannoges. Between us and the sea, is the
ancient plain of Magherow, which contains many forts and
sepulchral structures, also some very extensive souterrains, which
I have examined and will refer to at another time. Almost at
our feet, to the south, is the village of Drumcliffe, with its round
tower, cross, and pillar stone — one of the earliest seats of
Recent Archceological Explorations in Co. Sligo. 43
Christianity in Ireland, founded by no less a personage than St.
Culumbcille, in a.d. 585. Druincliffe was burned by the Danes
after they had plundered Innismurray, which was the first spot
these sea rovers landed on in the western coast in the year 807,
when they had a sail of 50 vessels.
Lying off the coast some four and a half miles is the Island of
Innismurray, celebrated up to a recent period for the very fine
mountain dew distilled there — which did not much increase the
Imperial revenue — but more famous as the residence of St.
Molaise in the 6th century ; not the St. Molaise of Devenish in
Lough Erne, but another celebrated man bearing a similar
name, which is to the present day a household word in Innis-
murray. Here are many monuments of Pagan and early
Christian times— pillar-stones of undoubted Pagan origin, after-
wards consecrated by the Christian saints with the emblem of
their faith — the cross — carved in various styles.
These early saints were wise in their generation. Instead of
rudely breaking the people off their stone worship, well worship,
and Pagan festivals, they consecrated them all to the service of
the new faith. They carved crosses on the pillar-stones ; they
baptised the converts at the sacred wells ; they turned the Pagan
feasts into Christian festivals, and thus the change to the new
faith was the more easily accomplished.
It was by the route last described— by Bundoran and the
coast — that the armies of Ulster used to invade Connaught,
sometimes led by an O'Neill, at other times by an O'Donnell.
There were battles fought here in very ancient times, which we
need not now refer to ; suffice it to say, this is classic Irish soil.
Its ancient history, if recorded by another Walter Scott, would
lend a charm and an interest to it equal to any in Europe.
Though this country has been a favoxirite resort of antiquarians
for more than a century past, there still remain many interesting
relics of by-gone ages, the existence of which have never been
recorded. Beranger, who visited it in 1779, was one of its first ex-
plorers. Afterwards Dr. Petrie in 1837, and Mr. Walker of Rath-
carrick, at whose seat the ancient stone chair or seat on which the
O'Neills were crowned, is still preserved. How it was removed
44 Recent Archceological Explorations in Co, Sligo.
from the Linen Hall, Donegall Street, Belfast, to county Sligo
is related in the Dublin Penny Journal. Mr. Walker, who
lived at the early part of the present century, opened many of
the ancient sepulchral monuments in county Sligo, without
leaving any record of the various finds he made, and afterwards
disposed of them to an English nobleman, thus doing an irre-
parable injury to Irish archaeology.
Amongst the more recent explorers are Mr. James Ferguson,
author of " Rude Stone Monuments ;" Colonel Cooper, of
Markree ; Colonel Wood Martin, the present indefatigable
Editor of the Journal of the Royal Historical and Archaeolo-
gical Association of Ireland ; Mr. W. F. Wakeman, and others
who have given interesting records of ancient monuments
of Pagan and Christian origin. Amongst those are the
cromlechs, stone circles, and forts, in the townland of Car-
rowmore, within three miles from Sligo, and first described
by Beranger during his visit in 1779. The visit of Beranger to
Innismurray in that year is a most interesting narrative, as
recorded in a late number of the Archaeological Journal, where
the primitive customs of its inhabitants are described. Mr.
W. F. Wakeman has copiously illustrated and described the
plain and inscribed monuments of Innismurray. There is also
the great megalithic structure, or, as it is called, the Irish
Stonehenge, situated four and a half miles from Sligo, in the
townland of Magheraghanrush, to which I shall again refer.
This ancient and unique monument is described in the Journal
of the Royal Historical and Archaeological Association of Ireland,
in a paper read by Mr. Edward T. Hardman before the meeting
held in Kilkenny on i6th April, 1879. It is also referred to by
Mr, James Ferguson in his book on " Rude Stone Monuments,"
published in 1872. In January, 1886, I visited the Deerpark,
accompanied by two friends from Sligo. We went to it for the
purpose of examining this monument, and to more thoroughly
explore the Deerpark.
The lecturer proceeded to describe this great structure, of
which he had maps and accurate measurements. It is 104 feet
in length, and 28 feet in breadth at the widest part. Mr. Fer-
Recent Archceological Explorations in Co. Sligo. 45
guson and Mr. Hardman described it as having a likeness to a
cathedral, with its nave, aisles, etc. — but he formed a different
opinion, and proceeded to show its likeness to the rude outline
of a giant figure cut in the ground, and the figure outlined with
huge standing stones from three to six feet in height. Mr.
Hardman in his paper says : — " I will not venture on any
theory as to the use of this structure, except so far as to suggest
that it was the place of a ceremonial observance of some kind.
It is clearly not a sepulchral structure, seeing that the solid rock
occurs within a foot or so of its surface." He then proceeds to
show, borrowing the idea from James Ferguson, that it resembled
in its plan a cathedral. What Mr. Hardman supposed to be the
natural rock is an artificial flagging which covers the entire
of the structure — of which more hereafter.
Mr. James Ferguson refers to this structure as follows : —
'* What, then, is this curious edifice ? It can hardly be a tomb,
it is so unlike any other tomb which we know of. In plan it
looks more like a temple — indeed it is not unlike the arrange-
ment of some Christian churches ; but a church or a temple
with walls pervious as these are, and so low that the congrega-
tion outside can see all that passes inside, is so anomalous an
arrangement that it does not seem admissable. At present it
is unique, if some similar example could be discovered, perhaps
we might guess its riddle."
Mr. Ferguson made no attempt to solve the riddle, neither
did Mr. Hardman. The only mode of discovering the secret
was by the spade and pick. Having secured the services of two
men, we removed the surface soil, and everywhere we examined
underneath it was found covered with flat flagstones, below
which were loose stones to a depth of another foot. We there
found little cists, at a depth of about two feet or better from the
surface, containing bones. These cists we found in various
places inside the structure, and in every instance contained bones.
These bones were forwarded to Dr. Redfern, who kindly ex-
amined them, and reported that the human bones had come from
bodies, at least three adults and one young person. The animal
bones were split to expose the marrow cavities, and were probably
46 Recent Archceological Explorations in Co. Sligo.
used at a funeral feast. There were bones of the ox, goat, hare,
etc. The lecturer read a letter he had received a few days
previously from a man who lives in the neighbourhood of the
Giant's Grave, He says : — " About twenty-five years ago the
landlord of the place made an excavation in the Giant's Grave
at the western end, near to the large headstone, at a depth of
about eight feet or more from the surface, he found human
remains in a vault or crypt of uncemented stones. Several
people have still a recollection of this circumstance, so that it is
now placed beyond a doubt this structure was erected as a
sepulchral monument." * Nothing in the way of weapons,
ornaments, or cinerary urns were found in it.
Mr. Elcock, who is an experienced archaeologist, and who
carefully examined this structure, arrived at the conclusion that
it resembled a human figure. Mr. Elcock's opinion and mine
were arrived at quite independently of each other. The struc-
ture lies almost due east and west — the head at the western end,
and what resembles the limbs of the figure at the eastern end.
The entrance to the structure is by a passage about two feet six
inches wide in the centre of the structure, or looking at it as a
likeness to a human figure, this passage is in the centre of the
body, at a point that would correspond to the umbilic. It has
three trilithons or open doorways, one between the head and
body of the figure, at what would correspond to the mouth, and
two at the extremity of the body where the passages that corres-
pond to the limbs commence. This is the only structure in
Great Britain where there are trilithons except Stonehenge.
The lecturer next proceeded to describe the ruins of a great
cashel situated a little to the south of the Giant's Grave. The
internal diameter of this cashel is exactly 100 feet, with encir-
cling wall 13 feet thick, the remains of which still stand to a
height of from three to four feet. An immense quantity of loose
stones, the remains of the original structure, lie scattered around,
and a still larger quantity were removed some years previously,
for the purpose of building fences. The entrance to this cashel
* N.B. — Since this paper was read, Colonel Wood Martin has made further exca-
vations, and found a great quantity of bones.
Recent Archoeologtcal Explorations in Co. Sligo. 47
is well defined. It is on the southern side ; is three feet nine
inches wide on the outer side and is three feet S'x inches on the
inner side. The entrance passage is thirteen feet through the
thickness of the wall. On the right side of this passage as
you enter there is a recess of about six inches deep. I also
observed a hole about two inches in diameter drilled to a depth
of twelve inches in a large stone. It occurred to me this hole
was used for inserting the hinge for the door, and the recess on
same side was intended for the door when open to fall back into
and leave the passage clear. In the Grimian of Aileach* there
are two recesses, one to right and left as you enter, about midway
in the passage. I would conclude from this there were two
doors, one on either side, closing in the middle, the joint breadth
of the recesses being about equal to the width of the passage.
If the doors were of stone this would be obviously a good
arrangement.
In this cashel the recess is equal to the width of the entrance,
which goes to show it was closed by a door hung on one side.
There is an angular shaped souterrain in the middle of this
cashel, terminating in a bee-hive shaped structure. One of the
sides measures eighteen feet. In all cashels I have examined,
where the nature of the ground permitted, these chambers were
constructed in the ground. At Aileach, which is erected on the
solid rock, there are two chambers constructed within the thick-
ness of the wall, one on each side of the doorway. In no instance
have I observed chambers in the wall where the ground could
be easily excavated. These souterrains and chambers were no
doubt intended as storehouses and receptacles for valuable pro-
perty, as the entrance to them could be so easily concealed or
defended.
The lecturer next described another sepulchral structure
situated to the south-east of the cashel in the Deer-park. It is
like three ruined cromlechs, with the covering stones fallen off
*Note. — Since this lecture was ^iven, the lecturer had the pleasure of inspecting the
Grimian of Aileach with a friend, accompanied by Dr Bernard of Derry, to whom
Irish archaeologists are under a deep debt of gratitude not yet acknowledged, for hii
great labour in restoring this ancient and historic structure.
48 Recent Archceological Explorations in Co. Sligo.
and lying against the upright stones. At a further distance of
about half a mile up the eastern side of the Deer-park, is the
remains of another cashel, 180 feet in internal diameter, the
encircling wall of which was eight feet in thickness. Within
the outer circle are the remains of three interior forts lying from
north to south, whilst in the western side the remains of a
souterrain filled with debris is quite visible. This cashel pos-
sessed this advantage : that if a breach were made in any part
of the outer encircling wall the interior forts could be defended,
which added greatly to the strength of this ancient fort. The
stones from this cashel were removed within the memory of
people still living, for the purpose of building fences round the
Deer-park.
A very peculiar-shaped stone, which the superstition of the
people has protected from being removed, is still lying on the
eastern side of this cashel. It is known as a BuUan Stone. It
is about three feet high and about two feet square ; — on its
top a basin-shaped cavity is cut to a depth of four and a
half inches, with a diameter of eleven inches. The water
which lies in these stones is considered by the people as
a certain cure for diseases of the eye. Bullan and other cup-
marked stones were worshipped in Ireland in Pagan times, and
are still held in peculiar veneration by the people, instances of
which were given. Earth-fast rocks and stones with cup and
ring markings have been observed in India quite similar to
those found in Ireland. In India they are still worshipped,
and their symbolic meaning understood, in connection with the
worship of Siva, who, under the name of Mahadeo, is worshipped
as the generator, the sun, etc., and whose type is the Linga.
Benares is the head-quarters of this Lingam worship ; in
temples devoted to it the richer people erect stone pillars over
the graves of the departed, whilst the poorer are satisfied with a
section of the ground plan of this in the form of two concentric
Nott, — The lecturer since reading this paper examined another cashel in county
Sligo, the walls of which stand ten to twelve feet in height. It is built on a rock,
there is a chamber in the thickness of the wall, and a recess in the entrance passage,
together with an outwork not observed in any other cashel.
Recent Archceo logical Explorations in Co. Sligo. 49
circles and a central dot, a symbol that has been carved on the
rocks all over Europe. Bhavini, the wife of Mahadeo, is sup-
posed to represent the feminine principle in nature. Some
light may be thrown on European rock-markings by noting
the symbolic meanings held in India concerning them.
A cave dwelling situated a little to the north of the last cashel,
55 feet in length, was next described. It divides in the centre
into two chambers, and is from nine to ten feet high and five feet
wide. At the entrance to this cave the remains of an ancient
hearth was found, and in the midden adjoining, at a depth of
two feet, a quantity of bones, and a small bronze buckle, carved
on one side, were found.
A description of the townland of Cams was next given, and
a map, enlarged from the six-inch Ordnance Survey, was shown,
with the various places of antiquarian interest drawn to scale.
First, the two huge cairns, situated in a most commanding
position on the high ground overlooking the town of Sligo.
Next, the outlines and remains of three cashels were described,
varying from 60 to 80 feet in internal diameter, with walls from
eight to ten feet in thickness. The wall of one, which is ten
feet in thickness, stands to a height of about three to four feet.
Two of them have the remains of souterrains or cryptic struc-
tures, and one has the remains of two encircling concentric
walls, thus showing another type of cashel. The most impor-
tant feature to archaeologists are the alignments extending
across the hill and parallel to the cashels. A transverse align-
ment extends up the hill to the cairn of Ton-na-ihoble, a
distance of about three-fourths of a mile. In some parts of this
alignment the stones are deeply embedded in the ground, and
in some places they disappear, but it can be traced till it reaches
the cairn on its southern side, at a point where there appears to
be an entrance into it. There are three almost parallel lines of
stones stretching across the hill, slightly converging at the
western side. The length varies from 500 to 600 yards ; they
run in a line almost due east and west. The distance between
the most southern line and the next one is about 100 yards,
and the distance from the central line to the more northern one
5o Recent Archceological Explorations in Co. Sligo.
is about 130 yards. The centre alignment is formed of the
largest stones, and they increase in size towards the western
end. Where this line terminates to the west, there are two
enormous menhirs, one of which measures 1 1 feet in height
and 42 feet in girth, the other measures 10 feet in height and 30
feet in girth. These two immense stones stand quite closely
together, and seem from the cleavage to have been originally
one. There is an almost complete circle of large boulders, of
which the two whose dimensions I have given form the centre.
Six stones form the circumference, separated from each other
by a distance of about 30 yards, while their distance from the
two central stones varies from 25 to 30 yards ; there is one
stone wanting to make the circle complete. There is a row of
stones extending north and south, dividing this circle almost
equally in a line with the two central boulders. Besides the
two latter there are- ten very large stones standing upright —
the distance separating them is from 24 to 35 yards, and the
entire distance they extend is about 226 yards, about equal to
the distance separating the lines that run east to west. In the
latter lines the stones are placed closely together, while in that
extending north and south they are separated from each other
as already mentioned, and are of much larger size.
Reference was next made to similar alignments found in
Brittany, in the department of the Morbihan, of which a few
views were shown on the screen and compared with those in
Sligo. Antiquarians who have spent a great deal of time and
research in examining the lines of Carnac, Menec, and Ker-
lescan, have not arrived at a definite conclusion as to the use of
these monuments in the ceremonies of the ancient inhabitants
of Brittany. The general opinion is, they were in some way
connected with sepulchral structures, and had a place in the
worship of the early Celtic tribes.
Proceeding from where the alignments end on the eastern
side down hill towards Lough Gill, we entered a field containing
the remains of a small circular fort. In the same field are 18
small cairns, or heaps of loose stones, with other stones placed
in situ outlining the graves, for they are evidently sepulchral
Recent Archaeological Explorations in Co. Sligo. 51
structures. In the next field, still nearer the lake, there is a
great pit 75 feet long and 30 feet wide at the broadest part. It
is filled with hundreds of loads of loose stones ; from one part
of it the stones have been removed to a depth of six feet. On
a portion of the northern side are upright stones outlining this
place in a similar way to many sepulchral structures I have
seen. It occurs to me that our ancient history throws some
light on these graves and their date.
The Annals of the Four Masters relate that in the year 535
a great battle was fought between Eoghan Bel, King of Con-
naught, and the Clanna Nial from Ulster, at a place called
Grinder. The Annals state that at this battle, which was fought
with great fury, the River Sligeach bore to the sea the blood of
men with their flesh. Another ancient manuscript, translated by
John O'Donovan, states — "That Eoghan Bel was mortally
wounded, and his troops beaten by the Ulstermen ; that he
lived for three days. He told his people to bury him on the
hill at the base of which the Ulstermen flee when pursued by
the armies of Connaught ; that he was to be buried in a stand-
ing posture, with his red javelin in his hand and his face
towards Ulster, that he might watch over his countrymen when
engaged in battle." It is further related, so long as his body
remained in this position the Connaughtmen were victorious ;
but the Ulstermen coming to know of it, came with a great
army and removed the body, and carried it northward across
the Sligeach river, and buried him with his face downwards at
Aenach Locha Gille — thus destroying the talismanic effect of
the former interment. The present river running from Lough
Gill to the sea, a distance not exceeding four miles, was
anciently called the Sligeach. It is on the southern side of
this river, and close to it, that the eighteen graves and the
large pit is situated.
The large cairn, or what is known as Cams Hill, is on higher
ground, overlooking the lake and river. The battle must have
been fought here, as the Annals state the slain were carried to
the sea by the river. On the hill above the river the cashels
52 Recent Archoeological Explorations in Co. SHgo.
already referred to are situated— a very strong place for the
Connaughtmen to fall back on. The graves and pit can be
accounted for as the place where those slain in this battle were
interred. The large cairn answers to the description of the
place where Eoghan Bel was buried, and the chasm down the
northern face of the cairn is explained by the body having been
removed from that side, and thus causing a displacement or
gap in the structure still quite visible. An explanation is
required as to the name of the place where the battle was
fought. The Annals say it was a place called Grinder. No
name like this is now known in county Sligo. If this place
was anciently known as Grinder, or Grune Tyr, probably, it
would be very appropriate, as referring to the rounded or
globular-shaped country, viz. — crwie, rounded or globular, and
tyr, a country. Garns Hill is of this shape.
This townland could only have been known as Garns
from the time the cairns were erected, and must have had a
previous name, which I conclude was the now lost name
referred to — from the fact of the burial of the King and the
erection of his cairn, and also the erection of the other cairn
known as Ton-na-f hoble, or the cairn of the people — the town-
land from that period would be referred to and called Garns,
and the older name would lapse. The lecturer proceeded to
prove that the place the body of Eoghan Bel was re-interred in
would correspond to the structure now known as the Giant's
Grave in the Deer-park. Ancient stone worship was exhaus-
tively dealt with, and the decrees of the various Gouncils of the
Ghurch against stone worship, well worship, and the worship
of trees, was referred to.
The use of stones in the inauguration of chiefs and kings in
Ireland, and Edmund Spenser's account of such a ceremony
which he witnessed in the South of Ireland, was related. The
chief was placed on a large stone reserved for that purpose,
usually on a hill ; he took an oath to preserve all the
ancient customs of the country inviolate ; he then received
a wand, after which he descended from the stone. The ancient
Recent Archceological Explorations in Co. Sligo. 5 3
Kings of Denmark were crowned in a circle of stones ; the
Kings of Sweden were crowned on a stone, around which was a
circle of stones on which the nobles sat ; the Saxon Kings were
crowned on a stone ; and the British Sovereigns are crowned
with a stone placed underneath the coronation chair. The
Kings of Ireland were crowned on a stone at Tara. The O'Neills
were crowned on a stone seat which is now in the Co. Sligo.
A very peculiar custom which throws light on Druidical stone
circles was referred to. The bards from Wales assembled in the
gardens of the Temple, London, in November last, to hold a
meeting called a Gorsedd. Twelve stones were placed on the
ground, forming a circle ; a large stone was placed in the centre.
When the ceremony commenced, the bard, who on this occa-
sion represented the Arch Druid — a venerable man of eighty
years — who stood on the central stone, and turning his face to
the east commenced the ceremonies of the bards, which custom
has been handed down from ancient times. Tradition requires
that these Gorsedden, or meetings of the bards, shall be held in
the eye of the light and the face of the sun. The large boulder,
surrounded by a circle of stones as previously described, may
have been used for some such purpose, or in the inauguration
of chiefs.
It is said the Kings of Sweden were crowned on a stone
within a circle of stones, and for each king thus crowned an
upright stone was placed in position as a memorial of the event,
so that by counting these upright monumental stones the
number of kings crowned there could be known. As already
stated, Irish chiefs were inaugurated on a stone, as related by
Spenser ; that being so, might account for the large boulders
within the circle, while the ten stones in line might have
been erected as in Sweden, to represent the number there
inaugurated.
The lecturer concluded by referring to the burial of Absalom,
over whom, when interred, a great heap of stones was placed,
like the cairns of the ancient Irish. He also quoted the burial
of Hector as an illustration of another mode of sepulture
54 Recent Archaeological Explorations in Co. Sligo.
common in ancient Erin, viz., cremation ; and the erection of
what was probably a cromlech covered with an earthen mound.
After the body was burned on the funeral pyre —
" The bones they took and laid them in
A casket bright with gold,
Wrapt round with fleeces soft and sleek,
All purple to behold.
Soon scooped a grave and in it entombed
The casket deep,
And big stones closely o'er it placed.
And o'er the stones, still hot with haste,
Flung up the earthen heap."
55
isi March, 1887.
William H. Patterson, Esq., M.R.I.A., in the Chair.
William Gray, Esq., M.R.I.A., read a Paper on
TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND OUR METHODS OF
PROMOTING IT.
Mr. Gray commenced his lecture by tracing the development
of animals, and stated that man is the highest form of animal
organisation ; that henceforth all improvement must be by
man's powers of adapting the phenomena of nature to serve
his purposes, and not by adapting himself to his surroundings
as the mere animal did. His first effort was, doubtless, the
formation of a weapon or tool, and his few rudely-fashioned
stone implements were the first step outside of, and beyond the
capacity of, any previously existing animal, thereby initiating
those processes which culminated in the higher achievements
of mechanical skill, demonstrating that necessity is the mother
of invention, and foreshadowing the advantages of that com-
petition which is the life of trade. The phenomena of mind,
the new factor in the struggle for existence, early attracted
the attention of increasing mankind, and gave rise to schools
of mental speculation, employed in formulating the laws on
which the security of society depends : so that in the earliest
ages, and in the infancy of nations, it was found that no pro-
gress could be made until an obedience to law and order was first
established.
Mr. Gray, having traced the rise and progress of the indus-
trial arts from the East through the Romans to Britain,
explained that our insular position was not unfavourable to the
56 Technical Education.
progress of mechanical arts in times of peace, and the successes
of our arms by land and sea brought the British into contact
with other nationalities, and obtained from them the know-
ledge of materials and methods unknown to us before. We
exchanged with other nations in the markets of the world, and
men of thought and skill sought refuge in England from the
strife and turmoils that disturbed their native provinces.
Edward III. encouraged clothworkers from France to settle in
Norfolk and other places, for at that period, as Fuller in his
Church History tells us, the people knew "no more what to do
with their wool than the sheep that wore it." A most impor-
tant accession of skilled workmen was obtained in consequence
of the persecutions that followed the revocation of the Edict of
Nantes in 1685, when a large number of workmen in various
trades took refuge in England, and were instrumental in stimu-
lating industries in the various towns then rising into importance.
This important accession of the Flemish and French refugees
to our slowly-increasing army of skilled mechanics stimulated
our industries, and contributed to the development of those
remarkable discoveries that subsequently revolutionised the
industrial world, and did more for the material welfare of
mankind than ages of abstract speculation, religious contro-
versy, and military campaigns. But great discoveries were not
the outcome of single minds. Robert Stephenson said of the
locomotive, "It has not been invented by any one man, but by
a race of mechanical engineers." The same may be said of
many other important inventions ; for like as the lowly coral
polyp toils quietly, laboriously, and unostentatiously in the
deep, generation after generation passing away, in the effort to
elaborate and combine the scanty materials of which the reef is
formed, and the winter's storm waves roll far above heedless of
the toilers, but do not check their progress, until at length
their combined result rises gracefully to bask in the sun-
shine and the air, a very refuge in mid-ocean, to become clothed
with fruitful palms and the beauty of tropical vegetation : —
so also generation after generation of obscure toilers investigate
phenomena, and accumulate experiences in the quiet of their
Technical Education. 57
retirement, with apparently no practical results, and heedless of
the contest ol parties and the struggles of native rage around
them, until at length the combined results of the continued
achievements of human intellects develop into some great
discovery recognised in the sunlight of public favour as another
vantage ground from which to press forward the cause of civilisa-
tion and progress.
The brilliant and rapid advance of scientific discovery in
modern times, and the vast improvement in mechanical
appliances, justify the anticipation of accelerated progress in the
future. There seems to be no practical limit to the development
of industry, or to the application of the products and forces of
nature for the purposes of mankind, wholly independent of
nationalities. The common result, as well as the special advan-
tages of every accession and every fresh discovery, are rendered
available to all by the increased facilities for intercommuni-
cation and the removal of those hindrances, social and physical,
that heretofore separated nation from nation. But while the
universal distribution of knowledge, and all the advantages that
follow discovery and the culture of science and art are inevitable,
and desirable in the interests of advancing civilisation, they in-
volve from a commercial view, a closer competition and a keener
struggle for existence, and remind us that the position we or
any people can take in the struggle, will depend upon the skill,
experience, and culture we employ to maintain it. In mediaeval
times the squire, the clergy, the yoemen and well-to-do citizens
were bound by law to train up their descendants to practical
industries. The obligations thus imposed were liable to incon-
venient abuses, and the practice fell into disuse, and was super-
seded by the apprenticeship system. Under the apprenticeship
system a youth, bound to serve his master for a term of years,
had a fair chance of acquiring a knowledge of his trade, for it
brought him into direct contact with his master, and was
made familiar with all his business. This was especially the
case so long as almost every tradesman was himself a master,
and not a mere journeyman in the employment ot others.
AH the operations of industry were then protected and regu-
58 Technical Education.
lated by trade guilds, and a knowledge of the trade was
considered a mystery, jealously guarded by the members of the
guilds, who were masters of the mystery — craftsmen or handi-
craftsmen. In modern times the printer's "devil" has outwitted
the craftsmen by exposing all their secrets. In rural districts
masters were not so much specialists as all-over men. A smith
was a blacksmith, locksmith, nailer, farrier, and perhaps horse
doctor. A carpenter was also a joiner, wheelwright, cabinetmaker
and millwright. Their factories or workshops were their own
homes, in which the apprentice often resided, or, at all events,
was brought into daily personal contact with his master, and
was thereby enabled to acquire a thorough knowledge of his
trade. But the development of manufacturing machinery,
with the consequent erection of large manufacturing concerns,
and the concentration of skilled labour into large towns,
destroyed the apprenticeship system ; and to-day the youthful
apprentice is passed into a factory, like a sheep into a paddock,
to do the best he can for himself. He has no immediate
responsible master. But as extensive factories and large estab-
lishments of all kinds have become an absolute necessity to keep
pace with the progress of our manufacturing industries, and as
the principle of a division of labour must be acted on to secure
excellence and economy, it is quite manifest that the system of
apprenticeship, which cannot be dispensed with, must be
modified to meet the requirements of modern industrial opera-
tion. The apprentice should, in fact, be technically educated
or he cannot acquire in the workshop or factory the skill that
is required by the refinement of processes, and the straining
after excellence and perfection in every detail of our modern
industries. In this sense we must look on technical education
as a system, and not as a mere branch of education — a system
that directs every stage of the pupil's educational career, so
that he may be prepared to efficiently discharge the duties of
life and maintain the struggle for existence. Adopting this
view of technical education, it is evident that as a method or
system of education it can be applied to our most elementary
schools, as the foundation of our educational edifice ; and as
Technical Education. 59
the stability and permanence of the superstructure depends
upon the efficiency of the foundation, it is manifest that any-
thing wanting or imperfect in our elementary education will
be proportionately injurious to the educational superstructure
raised upon it.
After referring to the defects of the purely voluntary system,
Mr. Gray referred to the establishment of our National educa-
tion system, and said that in consequence of the apathy of the
public, denominational jealousies, and other causes, the old
parochial idea was retained in formulating the National educa-
tion scheme, and the control of the schools drifted into the
hands of clerical managers, and consequently the system as a
system, while it had accomplished much good, has failed to
realise all that its founders anticipated with reference to tech-
nical education. If we compare our school buildings with the
schools of England and Scotland, we will find a marked con-
trast. The great majority of our National schools are built on
waste, good-for-nothing spots. The buildings are dingy,
uncared-for, ill-ventilated, and badly lighted. The report of
the Education Commissioners shows that over 23 per cent, of
our National schools are without any out-offices, yards, or
playgrounds. At a meeting of the Teachers' Congress in
Dublin Dr. Cameron said : — "In the rural districts the schools
were, with a few exceptions, wretched structures, being some-
times mere mud cabins, with cold clay floors and thatched
roofs. Taken as a whole the National schools were mean, ill-
conditioned buildings, quite unworthy to be used in connection
with one of the noblest of man's works — the cultivation of the
human understanding." Such is the testimony of a sanitary
authority. We speak of the necessity for compulsory education.
Would it not be a breach of Martin's act against cruelty to
animals to compel children to attend such schools ? .
The total absence of suggestive objects, natural and manu-
factured, is a most radical defect in our national schools, for
without them our youths are brought up incapable of appreciating
the phenomena of the natural world, or its requirements, and
consequently know nothing of the various channels into which
6o Technical Education.
their own labour might hereafter be practically directed ; hence
when it is time for lads to leave school both they and their parents
are too often utterly at a loss to know what the lad is to be put
to, or what he is fit for. He has been taught to work hard to get
result fees for his teacher, and he is glad to be relieved from this
labour. Beyond this he has rarely no other definite idea as to the
necessity, value, or object of the education he has received.
Without this he is heavily handicapped in his future struggle
for existence. Referring to the use of tools in schools, the lec-
turer said there are many things desirable that are not always
practicable. This seems to be the case with reference to teach-
ing the use of tools in schools, where our youths, as a rule, have
so short a time to devote to the cultivation of the senses and
mental faculties as means for acquiring and properly applying
the laws and principles that underlie the practical industries of
the country. Other agencies besides tools may be employed
for the purpose of developing and directing manipulative skill,
or dexterity of hand, such, for example, as drawing and modelling.
The lecturer strongly recommended this, as well as the study of
natural science, and stated that the defective training in the
elementary school is a great hindrance to the effective working
of the more practical classes under the Science and Art Depart-
ment, for a great deal of the students' time is lost in their school
making up the elementary deficiencies. This is most marked.
The School of Art and the teachers' time, which should be
devoted to the more advanced studies, is wasted in endeavouring
to get the student to grasp the more elementary lessons in
drawing. No wonder that the parents and friends so often
complain of the time spent on elementary work, and the slow
progress made by the students. Mechanics wanting this
elementary instruction attribute their slow progress at schools of
art to the teachers' want of practical knowledge rather than to
their own want of elementary knowledge. Had the student's
eye and hand been properly trained in the elementary school
at the time when the eye and hand are most readily trained,
he would be prepared to profit by the teaching in the School
of Art, and advance to higher stages more rapidly. The lecturer
Technical Education. 6i
having referred to the want of prizes or rewards of some kind in
connection with our National schools, said the children of Model
schools obtain certificates and prizes as the result of annual
examinations, and there seems to be no reason why a similar
system should not be insisted upon in every ordinary National
school as a means to stimulate efforts to excel and to deserve, and
in acknowledgment of superior merit. At present our National
or elementary schools have no direct connection with the Interme-
diate or higher schools. There is a missing link in our educative
chain which should be supplied by a system of scholarships open
to pupils of our National schools, thus connecting the elementary
schools with the intermediate and higher schools, and making
the way clear for worthy pupils to pass from the lower forms of
our provincial schools into the highest places in our educational
system. Our Schools of Art and Science established in 1851
constitute effective agencies for promoting technical education.
During the ten years that succeeded the Great Exhibition of 1851
the art schools worked quietly and effectively, and their influence
on the industrial progress of the country was acknowledged
by foreign juries in the Exhibition of 1862, who stated that
England had "made amazing progress." Since then, further
improvement has been made, and the resources of the central
schools and museum at South Kensington have been greatly
extended, with correspondingly increased advantages to the
provinces. The number of national scholarships taken by any
school may be accepted as a very fair indication of the
efficiency of the school. In this respect Belfast has done
well, and occupies a high position in comparison with many
others in the kingdom. During the fourteen years following
the establishment of our local School of Art, Belfast has
taken the third place among the schools of the kingdom.
Within that period the number of scholarships taken by South
Kensington was 16, Birmingham 10, Belfast 8, and no other
school took more than 6. The science classes at the Working
Men's Institute, under Mr. Barklie, have been equally success-
ful, and last year the result fees, independent of prizes, amounted
to ^600. In common with the manufacturers of the nation
62 Technical Education.
generally, our local manufacturers seem to be unconscious of
the importance and value of such agencies as our schools of art and
science, and take very little interest in their labours. So re-
cently as the inquiry of the Technical Commission in Belfast,
a local manufacturer stated that the School of Art was of little
use to manufacturers, although at that very time his manager
was negotiating for the employment of one of our pupils as a
designer in his works, and has employed school of art pupils
since with acknowledged advantage. The technical education
of pupils must become more specialised as it advances, and in
order to meet the requirements of trade, must be carried much
further than the education provided by the State. For this
purpose all available external agencies must be brought into
operation, among the most ancient and honourable of which stand
the wealthy livery companies of London, who, recognising the
necessity for promoting technical education, established in 1877
the Guilds of London Institute, for the purpose of promoting
technical education among the industrial classes. Their general
scheme was formulated on the lines of the Science and Art
Department, and developed to a practical issue the annual
examinations and technical subjects, which were previously organ-
ised by the Society of Arts in 1856. The institute's syllabus con-
tains thirty-five subjects, including all our productive industries,
and payments are made to teach and support prizes awarded to
pupils upon the results of examination in each subject. We
have, therefore, working side by side these two agencies for the
promotion of technical education among the working classes —
the Crown, by means of the science and art schools, and the
Guilds of London Institute, by means of the technological pro-
gramme, taking up the student where he is left by the State,
and teaching him the practical application of his acquired
knowledge of science and art.
The lecturer described the very excellent work done by the
pupils of the Technical School and the Science and Art Classes,
particularly the classes at the Working Men's Institute, show-
ing that in the national competitions the Belfast students have
more than held their own in competition with some of the most
Technical Education. 63
impcrtant Schools and Colleges of Science in the kingdom.
Referring to the difficulty in getting Schools of Science in the
country, the lecturer said these difficulties and hindrances must
continue until local authorities awake to see the necessity for
adopting some more systematic method of applying the educa-
tional resources of the country for the purpose of promoting
the interests of our national industries. In this direction trade
societies could render effective services. Indeed, without their
sympathy and hearty co-operation no system of industrial
education can be effectively brought home to the artisan, and
unless this is done, and effectively done, much of our educa-
tional efforts of the day will be little better than a dissipation
of energy. Whatever scheme is founded it should be equally
available for all industries. "In a general way it may safely
be predicted that the nation which has the most varied indus-
tries is likely, all other things being equal, to be the most pros-
perous, powerful and contented." The success of our technical
education will depend upon how it is applied in the interest of
the young pupils or apprentices in the several branches of
trades, rather than in the interest of older hands, who have
discovered by experience the disadvantages of neglected educa-
tion. Assistance in the latter case should not be withheld, but
no substantial or permanent improvement can be made unless
the career of the young mechanic is carefully guided at every
stage, but especially at the apprenticeship stage.
We have already traced the altered relationship between the
master mechanic and his pupil in consequence of our factory
system, close competition, and division of labour, and it becomes
a question of vital importance to ascertain how, under existing
circumstances, to remedy the difficulties which our modern
apprentices have to contend against in acquiring a practical
knowledge of their trades. The concurrent testimony of all
practical authorities is that the apprenticeship system cannot
be superseded by any other form of education in trade, but
that the difficulties which surround him in the whirl and push
of our modern factory, render it all the more necessary that his
wits should be sharpened, his observing powers cultivated, and
64 Technical Education.
his mind stored with information appHcable to his calling, before
he enters the factory or workshop. Unfortunately masters as
a rule fail to test the pupil's ability and qualifications, unless to
serve some immediate and inferior purpose, and the pupil is
left to work his way as best he can. This is a radical defect.
Considering the number of educational advantages now avail-
able, masters would secure the most effective service of their
apprentices, stimulate elementary education, and generally pro-
mote the improvement of the industrial arts, if they would
refuse to admit any youth as an apprentice who had not made
sufficient progress in the recognised Schools of Art, Science, and
Technology ; — certificates of competency being obtainable from
all such schools, there could be no difficulty in applying this
test. Trade societies having to a great measure assumed the
duties of the old trade guilds, are now called upon in their own
interest to see that the apprentices to the various trades are
registered as properly qualified. Unless some technical certifi-
cate is required by trade societies from candidates for member-
ship, the educational status of the artisan cannot be improved.
One of the most honourable of the London companies, the
Plumbers' Company, had a rule as old as the time of Edward
III. to the effect that " No one of the trade of plumbers shall
meddle with works touching said trade except by the assent of
the best and most skilful men in the said trade testifying that
he knows how well and lawfully to do his work, so that the
said trade may not be scandalised or the community damaged
by folks who do not know their trade."
The teaching of trades is what is rendered possible under the
scheme of the Guilds of London Institute, and skilled workmen
of any trade having qualified under the Institute can earn result
fees by giving instruction in their respective trades. Practi-
cally, the adoption of this system is limited to towns where
suitable accommodation can be provided in the shape of class-
rooms, workshops, or demonstration rooms and fittings, as in
the case of the Science Schools at the Belfast Working Men's
Institute, which received aid from South Kensington towards
fitting up the chemical laboratory, and the Technical School,
Technical Education. 65
Hastings Street, which received aid from the London com-
panies. The difficulty in forming trade schools in rural dis-
tricts has been successfully overcome in the case of the Fishery
Institute, at Baltimore, County Cork, where a school has been
established for teaching boys "every art connected with fishing,
from the making of lines and nets to the building of boats,
curing of fish," &c. This has been established under the
Industrial Schools Act, which will ensure an annual capitation
grant from the State and a smaller sum from the county for
each boy under instruction, and for the same purpose Grand
Juries, or the Town Councils of Dublin, Limerick, or Cork,
can obtain loans from the Crown at three and a half per cent,
for altering, enlarging, building, or rebuilding industrial schools.
There seems to be no reason why this Industrial Schools Act
should not be extended to all properly constituted trade schools.
Probably it would be if the zeal manifested in the case of
Baltimore Fishery School was more general throughout the
country. In Belfast, favoured by the existence of the Queen's
College, which is sufficient to meet all the possible demands
for high scientific education, what seems most required is a
connecting link between the Science and Art Schools and the
workshop and factory, so that the pupil or apprentice having
entered the latter may be able to obtain that practical instruction
by skilled workmen which there is no time to impart in the fac-
tory and no proper means of demonstrating in the lecture- room.
For this purpose suitable workshops and apparatus will be
required for all trades, and the teaching staff may be selected
from the qualified teachers under the Guilds of London
Institute, as at the school in Hastings Street, or they may be
nominated by the respective trade societies interested in the
welfare of their trade apprentices.
The Technical SchoolsofHuddersfield, Bradford, Nottingham,
and Leeds, embrace the teaching of science and art as in our
Government School and Working Men's Institute, and the
teaching of technology as under the Guilds of London Institute,
and in many cases aim at a still higher standard by endeavour-
ing to accomplish in arts and medicine what is eflectively done
66 Technical Education.
by our Queen's College. We in Belfast may fairly leave the
high cultivation of science and original research with the
College, and content ourselves by the endeavour to utilise the
provisions of the Science and Art Department and the Guilds
of London Institute for the benefit of the industrial classes.
While acknowledging the superior excellence of both organisa-
tions for the accomplishment of their intended purpose, there
is a certain amount of incoherence about them that militates
against their complete success. The Public Libraries Act was
intended to remedy this defect, by placing in the hands of a
permanent municipal authority funds for the promotion of
popular technical education by the establishment of Libraries,
Museums, and Schools of Music, Science and Art, and more
effectively to apply such other funds as may be voluntarily placed
in their hands for similar purposes. Many of the chief towns
of the kingdom have utilised the powers of the Libraries Act
with great effect, in exciting public interest in favour of tech-
nical education and raising noble buildings as appropriate
homes for Literature, Art, and Science.
Belfast will probably have, under the powers of the Act, a
municipal building architecturally equal to any, but to make
it complete as a means of promoting technical education, it
should embrace an economic museum and art gallery, and if
external or voluntary aid will admit, it should provide class-
room and workshop accommodation for the teaching of science,
art, and technology, thus forming one central educational
establishment or Victoria Institute, qualified to teach the
principles and practice of science and art in their relation to
our national industries, as successfully as the Queen's College
prepares the students for the University. And if our wealthy
merchants of Belfast would only strive to realise such a scheme
this Jubilee year, it would go a great way towards stimulating
the Government to provide for the Queen's College the addi-
tional accommodation for scientific demonstration which it has
claimed so long and still so badly requires. Whether this can
be accomplished or not, the central institution, even as an
auxiliary to the Schools of Science, Art, and Trade cannot be
Technical Education. 67
complete without a good economic and art gallery, in which
our mineral and other national products should be exhibited,
and their several uses in the arts illustrated, with the processes
by which they are rendered available. In our industrial
museum we should have selected examples of our home and
foreign textile productions^ patterns, processes, inventions,
improvements, suggestions, and the combinations of industry
that are being provided to meet the increasing requirements of
advancing civilisation. Mr. Gray closed his lecture by describ-
ing the advantages that would arise from such a central
institute not only to the Schools of Art, Science, and Tech-
nology, but to the public generally, and hoped that a strong
effort would be made to have it established as a memorial of
the Jubilee year.
At the close of the paper the Chairman invited discussion.
Mr. Young congratulated Mr. Gray on having treated his
subject in an able and comprehensive manner, and expressed
himself in favour of having a proper School of Technology and
a Museum for Belfast. He did not think, however, that the
building should be connected with the Library, but considered
it would be much better in another part of the town.
Mr. Greenhill said that, at the suggestion of the Mayor, a
committee had been formed for the purpose of carrying out the
preliminary arrangements in connection with a Technology
School, and adverted to the essayist's remarks in connection
with apprentices, observing that he would much prefer the lad
who got his training in a small shop, where his duties were of
a varied character, to the apprentice in a large establishment,
who was kept constantly at one class of work.
Mr. Carson complimented Mr. Gray on the excellence of his
paper, and suggested that it should be published in pamphlet
form.
Mr. Gray, in reply, said he would not like the Town
Council to have the whole management of the school, but he
would take advantage of the Council's power under the
Libraries Act so as to render the School or Institute permanent
by being conducted under the Council as the municipal authority.
68 Technical Education,
They had been told that it would be unfortunate for it to be
connected with the Town Council, inasmuch as they would be
swamped with rates, but the Act providing a penny rate was
passed for the purpose of limiting the rate to a penny, though
of course he knew there had been efforts to make the rate two-
pence. He thought, however, that it would be unfortunate if
they were permitted to tax the ratepayers in this way, because
it would have the effect of checking voluntary efforts and con-
tributions. With regard to having one building, he certainly
would not go in for swamping all the others into one institu-
tion. His idea was to have a central building containing the
necessary appliances for the other institutions which would
gather round the museum, and that the municipal committee
should be the directing authority, having their central building
equipped with such appliances, apparatus, models, examples and
diagrams, as may be necessary to aid and stimulate the efforts
of any or all the schools or classes established throughout the
town for the promotion of any form of Technical Education.
69
<)th March, i88'
W H. Patterson, Esq., M.R.I.A., President, in the Chair.
W. H. Hartland, Esq., C.E., read a Paper on
SEWAGE DISPOSAL AND RIVER POLLUTION : ITS
PRESENT AND FUTURE ASPECTS, FROM A
SANITARY AND ECONOMIC POINT
OF VIEW.
The Lecturer began by stating that probably no subject con-
nected with the public welfare demands a closer or more philo-
sophical inquiry than this. One of the first authorities of the
day has recently made use of the words, " I am compelled to
admit that the subject of sewage generally is in a frightful
mess." The dangers to public health are almost infinite in
number and character, and the legislative attempts to guard
against them promise soon to become not alone a serious
burden upon the pocket, but an irksome interference with the
freedom of domestic life. Yet the chief dangers from sewage
disposal are not, like those from bad food or drink or over-
crowding, patent to all, and thus easily avoided. They are
underground and out of sight, almost unknown, yet always
active and ready to spring up and destroy us, whenever a
favouring condition of circumstances may arise. What consti-
tutes a satisfactory system of disposal ? His reply would be
this — Purify the sewage before putrefaction sets in ; all the rest
will follow as a matter of course. Providence, indeed, will do
the rest in the shape of " aeration," for pure air no sooner
meets with either foul odour, liquid, or matter than a struggle
commences— it proceeds to purify them. In the right applica-
tion of these principles it may be we shall find a revolution
in the present methods of procedure, both of treatment and of
7o Sewage Disposal and River Pollution.
sewer construction. What is the present aspect of this
question ? In the last half century there has been literature
on it wholesale, parliamentary commissions, blue books, reports
without end, yet the upshot of all is found in Dr. Tidy's
recent statement that the subject is in " a frightful mess."
The chief end of the Legislature has been to prevent
river pollution, in order that rivers and streams may be
restored to the public as sources of pure air, clean water,
fish life, &c. But the opponents of legislation ask, " What
is the use of further legislation, when the present is almost
a dead letter from the difficulty and increasing expense of
putting it into practice ? " Let us examine the procedure
that has led to this result. The first point to be noticed is
engineering. There was generally some great scheme for
the purpose of gathering up and concentrating in one stream
the whole nuisance of a locality, and then passing it on to a
neighbour. If anything illustrates the adage, " The farther
you go the deeper the mire," it is sewage disposal on these
terms. The next method of procedure was sewage farming.
This was at one time looked upon as the grand solution of the
problem. Although large sums of money have been expended
in this way it is gradually being abandoned. Next, there is
settlement and after filtration. Grave sanitary reasons soon
showed the fallacy of filtering raw sewage, and the settling tank
was brought into play. But the after filtration over areas of
land involves numerous difficulties — a great deal of land is
required, it soon gets " sick," and has to rest ; yet if the land
be of a suitable quality a step is made towards the economic
use of sewage by the affinity of the filtering medium for the
more volatile and valuable elements in the sewage, and the
land has become manured ; but the season for manure is
limited, whilst that for sewage is constant, and we are com-
pelled to go on *' in season and out of season." The " pail
system," with its handful of charcoal to arrest and to deodorise
the volatile elements has a certain economic value, but is
repulsive and can never be popular, and besides it leaves half
the drainage of the towns, and that in point of fact the most
Sewage Disposal and River Pollution. 7 1
objectionable, untouched. The lecturer proceeded — We now
come to what is termed the scientific or chemical treatment of
sewage. It may be stated briefly that natural laws, applicable
to liquid purification, are— First, subsidence ; second, natural
oxidation ; third, the general laws of chemical affinity— with
the latter is combined filtration. No matter how carried out,
chemical treatment aims at accomplishing one or other of the
effects natural to these laws. In precipitation or forced subsi-
dence, the agent used is generally lime. In the oxidation of
organic matter, permanganic acid, or salts of iron, we often used,
either with sulphate of alumina, or with lime. The A B C, or
alum, blood, and clay process, has been keenly fought over,
and is yet in controversy. The new process at Southampton
by which three grains of " very porous carbon" are added to
each gallon of sewage, probably effects little more than a partial
deodorisation of the liquid. Some other chemicals would seem
to operate quite as much by bleaching, as by really purifying
the sewage. But the bulk of these systems all aggravate the
difficulty of the "sludge" or solid deposit from the sewage by
adding, in the form of lime, alumina, or other ingredients,
immensely to its bulk, and none of them are carried out except
at great cost. The Birmingham Drainage Board, for instance,
has _jf 400,000 invested in works (not sewers), and the sewage
treatment of London, in the manner proposed by Mr. Dibden,
is estimated to cost annually ^118,000; another system
proposed, but not adopted there, contemplated an outlay of
3;^ millions and an annual expenditure of ^198,000 ; whilst a
third proposal went as far as 3I millions, and jf2 19,000 of an
annual expenditure. In attempting to describe the possible
future aspect of sewage disposal I may be allowed a little lati-
tude, but will avoid as far as possible merely theoretical con-
clusions. The main question depends on obtaining a system of
purification that shall be of universal application. If in so
doing we can minimise the cost, and so reduce the ratal burdens,
we shall have accomplished something ; if we can obtain a cheap
manure, we shall have benefited the largest industry in the
country. I am not going to tell you that " Peruvian guano "
72 Sewage Disposal and River Pollution.
can be manufactured from sewage, but simply that an honest
attempt can be made to recover that amount of natural value
which sewage undoubtedly has. In former systems the more
volatile and evanescent of these elements have been allowed to
pass away, or have been simply neutralised. I would go farther
— retain them. In the apparatus before me there are three, or
indeed four, sections, for I propose to perform in detail what
other systems do all together, and so fail to accomplish either.
In the first section I apply the natural process which is to be seen
at the mouth of the Blackstaff— ?.^., to allow the solid matter to
settle by quiescence to the bottom. In the second section the
liquid, freed from the grossest of this, flows between and through
filter boxes filled with, let us say, coarse lime or chalk. These
operate in a twofold manner— they serve both as a mechanical
filter and as a chemical neutraliser for such acids as exist more
or less in all sewage. In the third section the liquid, having
gone through these preliminary stages of purification, falls to a
lower level, one foot, or two or three feet, as the case may be,
but falling by means of spray plates in a highly divided form
through which a current of air passes. This is aeration, and is
the system nature applies in every river or running stream.
Then in the fourth section the highly aerated and oxidised
liquid passes through a second series of filter boxes containing
charred and earthy matter whose natural affinity for ammonia
takes up more or less of this valuable constituent of manures.
The final stage of this is subsidence, in the last tank, of all the
remaining sediment, chiefly the finer organic particles. The
fully purified effluent then passes away at any, even if necessary
at a dead level — it is clear water, no longer sewage. Each part
of the system is in duplicate, each may be of any convenient
size, and any number can be placed side by side, so as to be
anplicable either to one central area, to a series of drainage
areas scattered over one large town, or to a separate institution,
workhouse, a hospital, or to a private house, or group of houses.
The chief difficulty in all sewage questions has been the disposal
of the " sludge." In the system I propose the sludge is not the
manurial element in which I rely — for that purpose it may be
Sewage Disbosal and River FoUuiion. 73
disregarded — the more valuable elements I have intercepted in
another form. Nevertheless, the sludge remains to be disposed
of. We will suppose that a commercial attempt is being made
to utilise the value of the elements retained as manure ; then
the same fuel employed to create the aerating draft, to pump
when necessary the low-level outfall and to work the filtering
materials by grinding, &c , will also dry and calcine the sludge.
The oxidised sludge is mixed with the coarse filtering materials
by precipitating them into a drying floor or underground flue,
which conveys the waste heat; here the material may lie
undisturbed till dried. It may also be mixed with the ordinary
town refuse, and the whole thus dried together, and once dry
it can be treated as an ordinary raw material for manure, or
more correctly as a vehicle for the reception of other valuable
manure constituents, as in ordinary artificial manure industry.
At the close of the lecture Mr. Hartland explained that owing
to an accident to his experimental apparatus in transit from
Glasgow, it had been necessary to effect some repairs, and they
were only accomplished just before the lecture. He hoped,
however, that the apparatus would be in full working order
next morning, and anyone calling at the Museum after twelve
o'clock would find it at work purifying the Belfast sewage.
A discussion, which was chiefly of a technical nature, followed,
in which Rev. Robert Workman, Mr. Wm. Gray, Mr. J. J.
Murphy, Mr. L. L. Macassey, C.E.; Professor Everett, Mr. E.
N. Banks, C.E., and Mr. F. W. Lockwood took part. Mr.
Hartland replied, and the meeting concluded.
74
x'^th March, 1887.
William H. Patterson, Esq., M.R.I.A., in the Chair.
Professor Letts read a Paper on
FERMENTATION AND KINDRED PHENOMENA.
The subject which I have chosen for this lecture is one I may
say of extraordinary interest and importance, not only in a purely
scientific sense (though it has opened up several new fields of
research), but equally if not more so from a practical point of
view, as it deals with a wide range of subjects of much practical
importance, and involves questions of the greatest moment to the
whole human race. Among the latter there is a great deal that
bears directly upon the causes, nature, and prevention of disease,
and I feel that I may be charged with presumption for discussing
this branch of the subject, which belongs more particularly to
medicine and surgery ; but my excuse must be that it is also
very intimately connected with chemistry — in fact, its medical
and chemical aspects are linked by the closest bonds, and I do
not see how they can be discussed apart.
Let me first direct your attention to ordinary fermentation —
the change which occurs in the manufacture of all spirituous
beverages, such as wine, beer, whisky, &c.
Fermentation has been known from the earliest times. The
art of wine making was attributed by the Egyptians to Osiris,
by the Greeks to Bacchus, whilst as every one knows the
Israelitish tradition assigns its discovery to Noah.
I suppose every one is aware how wine is made : that the
grapes are crushed and the juice exposed to the air, when after
some time a frothing occurs, and spirit gradually makes its
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 7 5
appearance in the juice, whilst in proportion its sweetness
becomes lessened Here we have a case of spontaneous fermen-
tation, and the reason why wine-making is such an ancient
process at once becomes apparent: for the first person who
pressed out grape juice and allowed it to remain undisturbed
for some time must have been the conscious or unconscious
discoverer of fermentation.
But in the manufacture of other alcoholic beverages, such as
beer, &c., the conditions are not so simple, for something must
be added to the " sweet wort," or infusion of malt, to cause the
fermentation, and that something is "yeast" or "barm."
Here let me at once say that in all cases of ordinary fermen-
tation two things are necessary (i) a solution of sugar (2) yeast.
I will explain presently why yeast is not added to grape juice,
merely remarking that it is found abundantly in the juice after
it has fermented.
I have here some sugar (not ordinary sugar, but the same
sugar which exists in grape juice — hence called " grape" sugar)
dissolved in water. To the mixture I have added some yeast,
and the whole has been kept at about blood heat for some six
hours.
You observe that the liquid is frothing, or " working" as it
is called, and it is from that phenomenon that the term fermen-
tation is deried \^fervere — Lat. to boil']. Now this frothing
is due to the escape of a gas (as was first noticed by Van
Helmont) and that gas, as we can readily demonstrate, is car-
bonic acid.
I have here another experiment proceeding, namely, the
distillation of some fermented sugar solution, to show you that
spirit has actually been formed.
Now, as we took nothing originally but sugar and yeast, it is
obvious that the spirit has been produced from them ; and as
at the end of the experiment we find the yeast in undiminished
quantity, whereas some or the whole of the sugar has disappeared
(according to the conditions of the experiment) it is obvious
that the spirit and carbonic acid have come from the sugar.
In fact it has been ascertained that the sugar is decomposed in
76 Ferjnentation and Kindred Phenomena,
a perfectly definite manner, which we may represent by what
is called a chemical equation, thus : —
Ce Hi„ Og = 2 CO2 + 2 Q Hg O *
Grape Sugar. Carbonic Acid, Spirit or Alcohol.
What has caused this change in the sugar .? It must be
apparent to you, I think, that it is the yeast (for nothing was
present but the two things, and it can easily be proved that
sugar will not ferment without the yeast). Then comes the
question, and it is the very essence of the whole matter — What
is the nature of the influence which the yeast exercises ?
Loewenhoeck was the first to examine yeast under the
microscope in 1680, and to find that it consists of very minute
globules. Cagniard de Latour in the present century took up
Loewenhoeck's work, which had almost been forgotten. " He
observed that yeast consists of a mass of organic globules sus-
ceptible of reproducing themselves by means of buds which
appeared to belong to the vegetable kingdom, and not to be
simply organic or chemical matter, as supposed. He concluded
that it is very probably by some effect of their vegetation that
the globules of yeast disengage carbonic acid from the saccharine
liquid and convert it into spirit."
The great German chemist Liebig took, however, a totally
different view of the matter — a view which he can scarcely be
said to have originated, as his ideas were almost identical with
those of Willis and Stahl, chemists of the 17th century. His
theory was as follows: — Yeast, and in general all animal and
vegetable matters in a state of putrefaction, will communicate
to other bodies the condition of decomposition in which they
are themselves placed. The motion which is given to their own
* The chemist employs a kind of shorthand to represent the composition of substances
and their decompositions and reactions. The " equation" in question indicates, first,
the composition of the "molecule" or smallest particle of grape sugar capable of exis-
tence — the small indices showing how many atoms of the different elements it is
composed of are present : " Cg" representing six atoms of carbon, " H^j" twelve atoms
of hydrogen, "Og" six atoms of oxygen. It also shows that the molecule of sugar is
decomposed into two molecules of carbonic acid (each containing one atom of carbon
and two atoms of oxygen) and two molecules of spirit (each containing two atoms of
carbon, six of hydrogen, and one of oxygen). The term "equation" is employed
because the number of atoms on each side of the = sign is the same.
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 77
elements by the disturbance of equilibrium is also communicated
to the elements of the bodies which come into contact with
them.
Then a third view was advocated by Berzelius and Mitscherlich,
viz., that the yeast acts, as the chemist phrases it, "catalytically,'*
that is to say, causes the decomposition of the sugar by its
presence while it remains unchanged. This explanation is the
more plausible as many such actions are known. For instance,
the decomposition of bleaching powder into chloride of cal-
cium and oxygen by peroxide of cobalt.
I do not wish to detain you longer with these historical
particulars, nor can I follow out the chain of arguments which
eventually led to the correct explanation of fermentation. It
must be sufficient for me to state that Pasteur proved conclusively
that the fermentation of sugar is inseparably connected with
the life of the 3'east cell ; in fact, that the sugar is the soil or
food upon which the yeast lives, and that the carbonic acid and
spirit are waste products— just as the carbonic acid which is
exhaled from our lungs is a waste product, the carbon being
derived from the food we eat.
A few words as to the structure and life history of the
yeast cell. When yeast is examined with the microscope
under a rather high power it is found to consist of myriads
of minute globules, which are round or oval. Careful investi-
gation has shown that these globules or " cells" consist of
a mass of protoplasm surrounded by cellulose. They are, in
fact, paper bags full of protoplasm. The protoplasm, like
the cellulose envelope, is colourless, sometimes homogeneous,
sometimes composed of small granulations. In the protoplasm
are usually seen one or two dots or '' vacuoles," as they are
called, which are cavities containing liquid. If the growing
yeast cells are carefully watched under the microscope they are
seen to alter their appearance with considerable rapidity.
Sometimes at one, sometimes at two ends, small bladder-like
prominences make their appearance, which gradually enlarge,
and at last having attained a considerable size lessen in diameter
at their base, and eventually separate themselves from the parent
cell and lead an independent existence.
78 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
It is by this process of budding that yeast usually multi-
plies ; but there is another method of reproduction which occurs
only under special conditions. In this method we find definite
seeds or spores produced in the cell. Spore formation occurs
'when yeast is deprived of nourishment and is exposed to a damp
atmosphere. " Under these conditions the vegetative life of the
yeast ceases suddenly, and in a few hours we see great changes
take place in the protoplasm of the cells. The oldest and those
which are poorest in protoplasm die and break up. While
others grow larger, their lacunoe disappear and the protoplasm
is diffused uniformly in the cellular juice. At the expiration
of from 6 to ID hours we notice the appearance in the midst of
the protoplasm of from 2 to 4 small islets more brilliant and
dense than the rest, around which fine granulations collect.
These dense spots do not present any appearance of a nucleus,
and they become differentiated more and more until they are
exactly spherical ; 12 to 24 hours later each becomes invested
with a membrane, very thin at first, but which thickens by
degrees. The spore is then ripe." These spores or " ascospores"
as they are termed, are about \ the size of the mature yeast cell,
and they have a much higher degree of vitality than the cell
itself, and an infinitely greater power of resistance to destructive
agencies. Thus they may be completely dried, and even
exposed to a pretty high temperature, without losing their
power of germination. They are, in fact, similar to the seeds
of ordinary plants, and like many of these are distributed by
the air. I think we may compare yeast with a bulbous plant,
say a hyacinth, which at times reproduces itself by subdivision
of the bulb, at others by the production of true seeds. Now,
the ascospores of yeast are found in ordinary dust ; and as grapes
and other fruits are exposed for a long time during their growth
to the atmosphere, a layer of dust collects on their surface and
mixes with the juice when the fruit is crushed. Hence we can
easily understand the spontaneous fermentation of grape juice
and the juices of other fruits, such as those of apples and pears.
Indeed, the spores of yeast have been found on the skin of the
grape.
Let us return for a few moments to the process of fer-
Fermentation and Khidred Phenomena. 79
mentation, as there are several points which deserve attention.
We have seen that the yeast cell has the power of transforming
sugar into spirit and carbonic acid. Are these the only changes
it produces ? Pasteur's elegant researches have shown the con-
trary. He has proved that other substances are always found
in fermented liquids. One of these is glycerine, another succinic
acid. Then we have a mixture of other bodies which are
separated during the distillation of spirit, and are in chemical
properties allied to that substance. The mixture is termed
fusel oil.
The yeast cell is composed, as I have explained, of two parts
essentially, viz., a bag or lining membrane of cellulose and an
interior of protoplasm. During fermentation, yeast is constantly
multiplying, so that its weight at the close of the operation is
six or seven times greater than it was at the commencement.
It is obvious that it must derive its nourishment from the
fermenting liquid.
Pasteur showed by the most careful and convincing experi-
ments that the cellulose envelope was derived directly from the
sugar. We know, in fact, that a very close relationship exists
between the two bodies, and that their mutual transformation
is constantly occurring in the vegetable kingdom. But a
difficulty arises as regards the protoplasm, for it contains
nitrogen, and that element is absent from sugar.
Here again Pasteur has given the correct explanation, and
has shown that yeast will not thrive for any length of time in a
pure sugar solution, but requires for its nourishment certain
salts and nitrogenous substances. These it finds in the juices
of fruits or in malt infusion, but if fermentation is to be con-
ducted with a pure sugar solution they must be added, at least
if the fermentation is to continue.
Pasteur after various experiments succeeded in producing an
artificial medium in which yeast grows luxuriantly. It contains
in addition to water and sugar, tartrate of ammonium and yeast
ash, or in place of the latter an artificial ash containing the same
salts. We may compare with perfect propriety the ammonium
tartrate and yeast ash to artificial manures, which are now used
so extensively in agriculture.
8o Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
Another very interesting point in the history of yeast
was, I think, also first brought to hght by Pasteur, viz. : —
that the yeast cells when introduced into a liquid medium
containing oxygen absorb that element with great rapidity,
and develop a corresponding quantity of carbonic acid.
This is a veritable respiration, exactly resembling the respira-
tion of animals. Indeed, it has been proved that this respiratory
act of yeast is as energetic, and even more so, than the respira-
tion of fishes, which occurs in exactly the same manner, i.e., by
the absorption of dissolved oxygen from water. As fermentation
can take place in a proper medium without free oxygen, Pasteur
appears to have formed the theory that the fermenting character
of the yeast cell is due to the power it possesses of breathing at
the expense of the sugar, and that the latter's decomposition
into carbonic acid and spirit is the consequence of the act by
which the oxygen is removed from the sugar. In this case the
latter must suffer a far more complex change than is usually
supposed.
From all these considerations we see that yeast is a very
simple form of plant life, the spores of which, owing to
their minute size and lightness, are widely distributed. We
also see that like other plants it requires a definite soil for its
growth and nourishment, and also that in growing it gives rise
to perfectly definite chemical products which are formed from
the nutritive material, viz., sugar.
Does yeast stand by itself in these respects, or are there other
ferments similar to it in general functions .?
To this question science has given a very decided answer in
the affirmative, and has shown beyond doubt that there are
almost countless ferments in air, dust, and water, which, while
resembling yeast in the nature of their functions, differ from it
in several essential particulars. And this leads me to the second
division of my subject, viz., the question of spontaneous genera-
tion.
I may introduce this part of my lecture by some extracts
from an address by Professor Huxley given some years ago to
the British Association.
'* From the earliest times the doctrine prevailed that under
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 8 1
favourable conditions, of which putrefaction was one of the most
important, animals could be produced without parents."
The ancients were deeply imbued with this idea, and we find
it again and again discussed or spoken of in their writings ;
whilst in the Bible itself we find passages which evidently refer
to it. Lucretius said — " With good reason the earth has gotten
the name of mother, since all things are produced out of the
earth, and many living creatures even now spring out of it,
taking form by the rains and the heat of the sun." The great
philosopher Aristotle maintained that every dry substance
which becomes moist, and every moist substance which becomes
dry, produces living creatures, provided it is fit for their
nourishment. The famous riddle with which Samson perplexed
the Philistines : " Out of the eater came forth meat, out of the
strong came forth sweetness," evidently expressed the idea that
the bees which Samson found in the carcass of the lion he had
killed had been produced out of the carcass. Indeed, the idea
that bees could be produced artificially from the dead bodies
of animals was believed in implicitly by the ancient?, and we
find a complete description of the method to be adopted in the
Georgics of Virgil !
It is not hard to understand how in primitive times insects
appeared to be generated spontaneously from corrupting matter,
but on the other hand it is very difficult to imagine how the
notion could have originated that the higher animals could be
produced artificially. That such a belief prevailed is certain,
for we find Van Helmont, a chemist of the i6th century, giving
directions for manufacturing mice, and he even went so far as
to maintain that fish are produced out of water.
Even in contemporaneous times the notion of spontaneous
generation has found plenty of supporters, and it is not many
years ago since it was gravely announced that a new insect — the
acariis electricus (for it was even christened !) had been produced
by means of the electric current, and I have often been told in
country places that if horse hairs are placed in water each
separate hair will become an eel !
The first to combat the doctrine of spontaneous generatioo
82 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena^
was the Italian Redi, who, by a very simple experiment, proved
that flies are not produced spontaneously from putrefying meat.
He merely enclosed fresh meat in a gauze cage, and observed
that although the latter putrefied no maggots nor flies were
developed in it. He watched the flies hovering over the enclosed
meat, and by a mistaken instinct depositing their eggs in the
gauze cage, and eventually he saw these eggs turn into maggots.
He thus proved, by an experiment which we may agree with
Huxley in calling childishly simple, that insects are produced
from their parents and not spontaneously as a product of
corruption. Redi's experiments were sufficiently conclusive
with regard to the mode of genesis of the higher animals, but
after the construction of the microscope had been improved,
when, in fact, the compound microscope came into use, the
question of spontaneous generation was again brought promin-
ently forward. For the microscope revealed countless organisms
in ordinary water, but especially in infusion of animal and
vegetable substances, such as meat broth and an infusion of hay.
These organisms, or " infusoria," as they were called, are
characterised by their extreme minuteness ; hence the question
of their origin presented considerable difficulties. If we examine
an organic infusion recently prepared no sign of a living
organism is visible, but in a few hours the liquid teems with
myriads of minute beings. Whence have they come ? Are
they produced spontaneously from the animal or vegetable sub-
stances present in the infusion ? or are they the descendants of
pre-existing beings which have gained access to the infusion in
some way, are they formed from eggs or spores present in the
water or in the substances from which the infusions have been
made ? The EngHsh observer Needham was the first to attack
this problem experimentally. He argued that as heat destroys
both the seeds of plants and the eggs of animals a boiled infusion
ought not to develope any living organisms. He tried the
experiment, i.e.^ he heated the infusions in hermetically closed
vessels, and found that subsequently organisms did develope ;
hence he came to the conclusion that they were spontaneously
produced. After these experiments the Italian physician
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 83
Spallanzani took up Needham's work, and by heating the her-
metically sealed infusions for a longer period arrived at the
opposite result — no infusoria appearing after the prolonged
heating. Needham, however, was prepared with an argument to
explain this result, his contention being that under the condi-
tions of Spallanzani's experiment the germinatiiig power of the
infusion had been destroyed, and further that the air contained
in the closed vessel had been destroyed by the heat. The
latter part of this criticism acquired some force when it was
discovered that the gases contained in vessels of preserved pro-
visions contained no oxygen, and oxygen is, as we know, essential
to life. Swann, however, showed conclusively that if an infusion
previously boiled is placed in communication with air that has
been heated red hot, no putrefaction occurs. Ure and Helmholz
multiplied Swann's experiments with the same result, and
Schulz found that instead of calcining the air it is sufficient
before admitting it to the boiled infusions to allow it to pass
through energetic chemical substances, such as oil of vitriol, &c.
These experiments were really sufficient to decide the question
against the doctrine of spontaneous generation, but its supporters
were hard to defeat, and clung tenaciously to their belief.
Their objection at this stage of the controversy was ingenious,
if nothing else. By calcining the air, or by passing it through
energetic chemical substances, you destroy some principle in it
which is essential for the production of infusoria, they said. It
is all very well to say that you merely destroy the seeds or
germs, but you offer no proof of such a thing.
This criticism had to be met, and it was met most ingeniously
by Schroeder and Dusch, the method which they employed
being simply a refinement of Redi's experiment with the gauze
cage round the meat.
Instead of the gauze cage they used cotton wool, merely
allowing the air to filter through it before coming in contact
with the well boiled infusion. Under these conditions they
found that the latter remained perfectly sweet and fresh, showing
no trace of organisms when examined under the microscope,
por the slightest symptom of putrefaction, except in the case of
84 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
milk and eggs. It is, they argued, difficult to imagine that the
wool can have removed anything from the air except solid
particles, and these must be the germs of the infusoria.
It only remained to demonstrate, first, that these germs are
actually present in air, and secondly, that they are retained by
the cotton wool. Independently Tyndall and Pasteur devoted
themselves to this branch of the subject, and arrived at positive
results by two totally different methods.
In Pasteur's beautiful researches, which are remarkable for
their simplicity, elegance, and aptness, ordinary air was filtered
through cotton wool, and as thus purified was found to have
lost its power of inducing putrefaction in organic liquids.
Pasteur then submitted the minute residue which was left to
microscopic examination. In it he had no difficulty in recog-
nising the spores of minute organisms ; and to complete the
proof that these spores are actually the seeds of putrefactive
organisms he brought them into a previously boiled infusion,
and found that in the course of a few hours the liquid was in
active putrefaction. Tyndall's experiments were based upon
totally different considerations. Every one knows that when
a ray of sunlight enters a dark room its path is clearly visible.
The ray looks like a faint luminous cloud, and if the cloud is
examined narrowly myriads of particles are seen to be floating
in it. Now, Tyndall found that by allowing air to remain
perfectly quiet and undisturbed for a day or two these particles
by their natural gravity subside, and a ray of light when now
passed through the air no longer shows any visible track. He
proved by a simple experiment that air before subsidence
causes organic infusions to putrefy, whereas after subsidence
the infusion may be exposed for any length of time to it
without undergoing the slightest putrefactive change.
We may, therefore, consider it as definitely proved that
putrefaction is caused by minute organisms, the spores of which
are present in air, and that it is not due to any spontaneous
change occurring in the putrescible matter, nor to any specific
action of the air as such. The minute organisms are produced
from spores or eggs, and the doctrine of spontaneous generation
we may consider as finally refuted.
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 85
The study of the causes of putrefaction has opened up a very
wide field of research, and has thrown a flood of Hght on many
phenomena which were formerly hidden in mystery. For care-
ful enquiry has shown that the spores and seeds of minute organ-
isms are almost universally present, — that they occur abundantly
in air, water, and earth. Only some of them are concerned in
causing putrefaction ; others have equally well defined but to-
tally different functions. Thus there is a set of organisms which
have the power of inducing perfectly definite chemical changes
in certain substances, and unconsciously they have been
employed from time immemorial for the purpose. As an
example we have the organism which causes the production of
vinegar (acetic acid) from fermented liquids (which contain
alcohol). Others again cause the production of various
colouring matters, and some of these have not unfrequently
excited the awe and wonder of the superstitious. For instance,
there is the phenomenon of the " Bleeding Host," when bread
has apparently become covered with blood. But far more
important than any of these are the organisms which are
undoubtedly associated in an intimate manner with certain
diseases, often the very worst and most malignant to which
men and animals are subject. I shall endeavour presently to
show there are grounds for believing that in producing dis-
ease they are playing a chemical role, and it is by no means
impossible that the chemical changes induced by them in the
blood and secretions are the actual causes of the diseases in
question. Before entering upon the discussion of some of these
different organisms, which for our purpose we may arrange in
four groups, viz. : —
(i) Putrefactive.
(2) Chemical,
(3) Chromogenic.
(4) Pathogenic.
I may be permitted to say a few words about their appearance,
86 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
life history, and the methods which have been invented for their
study. The organisms in question are very numerous, and di-
verse in size and form. Naturalists have found much difficulty
in assigning them to their proper kingdom ; and, in fact, from
time to time have transferred them from one kingdom to
another ; at one period considering them to be animals, at
another vegetables. At any rate they are among the lowest
types of life, and may be considered to be on the borderland
between plants and animals ; but at last they have been
definitely claimed by the botanists.
They have as a class been called by different names. Haeckel
termed them "Protista," Sedillot "microbes," and they include
besides the different varieties of yeasts, moulds, and fungi, the
so called " splitting fungi" {spalt pilze) or " schizomycetes," in
allusion to their peculiar mode of reproduction. These latter
are of especial importance, and I shall in the rest of this lecture
deal with them exclusively.
The classification of the schizomycetes has not yet been
definitely settled. It will be sufficient for our purpose to describe
the appearance of some of the chief varieties.
Micrococci. — Minute round organisms, sometimes arranged
in groups of two (dumb-bells, dyspsococci), or of four {tetrad)^
or in packets of tetrads (sarcinci). Very frequently they are
found in chains (streptococci).
Bacteria and Bacilli. — The first short, the second longer
rods, often arranged in groups of two, or in chains of many.
They are frequently motile, darting about with great rapidity.
The movement is caused by a whip-like appendage (flagellum)
attached to one end of the organism.
Leptothrix. — Long filaments, often branching out in different
directions.
Spirillum. — Organisms which are twisted, often like a cork-
screw, and which move with great rapidity.
Modes of Reproduction. — The schizomycetes, as I have before
mentioned, are so called on account of their peculiar method
of reproduction, i.e., by splitting in one or more directions,
each fragment becoming a mature organism and again sub-
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 87
dividing. As this mode of reproduction occurs very rapidly, the
actual rate at which these organisms multiply is something truly
startling, and fully accounts for the rapidity with which putre-
faction and similar phenomena progress when they have once
been set in action. Indeed, it reminds one of the fable of the
man who offered to sell his horse for a price to be determined
by the nails in its hoofs— -^d. for the first nail, id. for the second,
2d. for the third, and so on. You may recollect that if there
were in all 24 nails, the horse would have fetched i'34t947
9s. 4d. According to Cohn, under favourable conditions a single
bacterium by growth and division could produce in 48 hours
the enormous number of 281,500,000,000 individuals! And
this rate of development, if carried on for five days, would give
sufficient bacteria to fill the ocean. Another estimate is that
the progeny of one bacterium which in the course of 24 hours
only weighs -^ milligramme, at the end of three days amounts
to 7,500 tons. In point of fact, perfectly favourable conditions
for the continuous development of these organisms are never
actually realised, or at all events for any length of time ; for
the rapidity of their multiplication is at once checked as soon
as the soil (if I may use the expression) in which they grow
begins to be exhausted, and is eventually entirely stopped
owing to this cause. Moreover, it would appear as if the sub-
stances excreted by the organisms themselves, if not removed,
or at all events diluted, act injuriously upon them, and even-
tually cause their destruction, or at all events the cessation of
their functions ; just as we find that yeast ceases to grow in a
sugar solution when the spirit reaches a certain strength, the
spirit paralysing or destroying the vitality of the yeast cells.
A curious fact in connection with this statement is that in
many cases the substances produced by minute organisms are
amongst the most active agents for their destruction. I fancy
that nearly all excrementitious products are peculiarly fatal to
the health of plants and animals producing them.
Apart altogether from the process of multiplication by fission,
we find another distinct method of reproduction among the
schizomycetesy or at all events among some of them. This
88 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
method is very analogous to the ascospore formation of yeast,
and is evidently a provision of Nature's for preventing the
organisms from becoming extinct under conditions unfavourable
for their ordinary life and development. In spore formation
the contents of the cell contract, and eventually a round spore
is produced within the cell, which finally escapes. The spore
placed under favourable conditions eventually germinates into
a mature organism.
The resisting power of the spores to the action of agencies
fatal to the existence of the organism from which they were
developed, or into which they grow, is very striking, and fully
accounts for the difficulties experienced in disinfection, and also
for many of the mistakes which were made by the believers in
the doctrine of spontaneous generation in interpreting the
results of their experiments. Again and again they declared
that organisms made their appearance in liquids which had
been thoroughly freed from them. No doubt the organisms
themselves were absent, but their spores were present, not
having been destroyed during the preparation of the infusion.
Thus the bacillus of hay infusion may be boiled in water for
ten minutes without losing its vitality, and it may be soaked
in pure carbolic acid and in other strong disinfectants without
losing its power of germination. The resistance of these per-
manent spores to agencies which easily destroy the life of the
mature organisms with which they correspond is a point of
great importance with regard to infectious and contagious
diseases (or at least to some of them), but I hope to touch on
this matter later on.
There is only one other consideration I shall mention in con-
nection with the morphology of the schizomycetes, but it is of
importance, and may considerably modify many of the present
views. It has been asserted again and again — and I think the
eminent surgeon Loeher was among the first to make the state-
ment — that certain of these organisms under special conditions
undergo a metamorphosis of such a kind that a micrococcus can
become a bacterium, the bacterium a bacillus, the bacillus a
leptothrix thread, or a spirillum, &c. : in short, that in certaip
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 89
cases an organism can assume various forms. Zopf, in especial,
has maintained the existence of this pleo-morphism, and his
system of classification is very much based upon the assumption.
In his book he gives drawings taken from actual observations
illustrating transformations of this kind. The possibility of
these changes occurring adds to the difficulties — already very
great — which are experienced in investigating these organisms ;
for what means have we of classifying a particular species if it
can exist in various forms and be of different sizes ? It is obvious
that mere microscopic examination and measurement, which
have up to the present time been relied upon in establishing
the identity of an organism, completely lose their value.
Besides, another set of questions are also raised by this new
doctrine, which I may be able to refer to when I come to the
consideration of the pathogenic species.
Having explained, as far as time permits, these few points
connected with the life-history of schizomycetes, you will per-
mit me to say a few words next relative to the conditions under
which they thrive. Their tissues contain much the same pri-
mary constituents as are found in ordinary plants and animals
— that is to say, the elements Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, and
O.xygeu, and in addition certain mineral substances among
which are Lime, Potash, Magnesia, and Phosphoric Acid.
The juices of meat and of vegetables contain the nutriment
for these minute organisms in the most readily assimilable form,
hence we find them especially suitable for their nourishment,
and not only is this the case, but it has also been shown that
the various secretions of animals such as blood, saliva, milk, &c.,
are capable of serving as soils, in which (certain species at least
of) organisms thrive well. Some of them, though possibly their
number is restricted, can be grown in artificial solutions, such as
Pasteur's fluid, but I think it may be stated as a rule that the
schizomycetes require for their nourishment more complicated
compounds than those which can be prepared in the laboratory.
I mean they require albuminoid bodies, of which ordinary
white of egg is an example. In this respect they resemble
animals and not vegetables, as the latter have the power
9© Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
of manufacturing for themselves albuminoid bodies out
of simple compounds. The schizomycetes then thrive in liquids
containing the necessary materials for their growth, but they
also frequently live on solids, such as potatoes, white of egg, &c.
Oxygen (in the free state) is essential to the lives of some, but
not of all.
It is necessary for me to say a few words about the methods
which have been devised for cultivating organisms in the pure
state, and indeed our present knowledge of most of the really
important facts connected with them depends very much upon
the introduction of accurate methods for the purpose. For
if we consider for one moment that the spores of countless
species swarm in the air, and are present, unless suitable pre-
cautions are taken, in water and in animal and vegetable
matter, we can easily see that the isolation and cultivation of one
particular species is a difficult task : for how exclude the others ?
An agriculturist would be puzzled to know how to raise a crop
of corn without any weeds whatever if he were not permitted to
remove the weeds as they appeared. The Bacteriologist is
called upon to do this, but the weeding operation is denied him.
How has this difficulty been overcome ? It is evidently essential
in the first place to have a soil suitable for the growth of the
organism we want to cultivate, and this soil must be free from
other organisms or their spores ; next, the organism we wish
to cultivate, or its spore, must be introduced into the soil ; and
thirdly, the soil and the organism (or its spore) must be placed
under suitable conditions for the growth of the latter ; the
experiment being so conducted that no adventitious organisms
can make their entrance into the vessel in which the cultivation
is proceeding.
We require then : —
(i) A suitable nourishing medium, which must be sterile («>.,
free from organisms).
(2) The pure organism, free from other species.
(3) Suitable conditions as to temperature, &c., for the growth
of the organism.
Now, in the laboratory various "soils" are made use of.
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 9 1
Beef tea, blood serum, infusions of turnip, cucumber, and other
vegetables, Pasteur's solution, &c., and occasionally solids such
as potatoes. But for the present we need only consider liquid
media. When freshly prepared they usually swarm with
organisms. This cannot be avoided ; our only course is to
destroy them. To do this the liquids are placed in suitable
vessels (usually glass flasks or test tubes) the mouths of
which are plugged with cotton wool. They are then heated to
the temperature of boiling water, either by immersing them in
steam or by boiling their contents. The heating is usually
repeated on three consecutive days, so as to ensure the destruction
not only of the organisms originally present as such, but also
those which may have subsequently germinated from the more
resisting spores. The liquids are now sterile, and no organisms
can gain admission to them so long as the plug of cotton wool
remains undisturbed. To prove the sterility, the liquids ought
to be kept for some time, and should show no cloudiness or
other evidence of change. We have next to introduce an organ-
ism or spore of the particular species we wish to cultivate, /r ^5
from any others of a different species.
To do this was, for some time, an impossibility, for how pick
out a single individual when to see it requires the highest powers
of the microscope ? We are indebted mainly to Koch for having
solved this problem, and for having devised a beautiful and
ingenious method which has marked quite an epoch in bacterio-
logical science.
Koch takes a sterile nourishing medium containing gelatine,
which when cold solidifies to a jelly.* He then introduces into
the gently-warmed medium a droplet of liquid containing the
organisms to be cultivated (but presumably other organisms also)
and pours the mixture upon a glass plate which has been
previously heated to a high temperature to destroy any organisms
present in the dust on its surface. The plate is then put beneath
a bell-shaped jar on blotting paper previously soaked in corrosive
sublimate solution. By this means the jelly is kept moist, and
at the same time protected from dust.
* Probably everyone know* that ordinary jellies "set" on account of the gelatine
which they contain.
92 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
Consider the effect of this operation. The organisms present
in the liquid with which the gelatine was inoculated are presum-
ably equally distributed, and if only a few are present (which
can be ensured by diluting the liquid used for inoculating) each
individual is separated from another by a considerable space.
In course of time (only a few hours under favourable conditions)
each organism reproduces itself, eventually producing a colony,
and this colony liquefies the gelatine at a particular spot or
causes an opacity. Hence we may be certain that liquid
taken from this spot contains only one species of organism, and
with this we can inoculate our sterile liquid and so obtain a
pure culture. This beautiful method of Koch's has been em-
ployed by him for isolating and investigating many of the
organisms of disease, and can be used for measuring the number
of organisms in air, water, and other fluids.
Now, having inoculated our nourishing medium with the
organism we wish to study, we have next to place it under
favourable conditions for their growth, and as a rule that means
a steady temperature (on an average about as high as that of
our bodies). The apparatus used is called an " incubator," and
is simply a box with double walls, the interspace being filled
with water which is kept at a constant temperature by a gas
flame, automatically controlled by a "thermostat," so that the
temperature inside the box (where the culture is kept) never
varies by more than a few degrees.
Such in a few words are the chief methods employed in
"bacteriological" research, and with their introduction more
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 93
exact information has been obtained of many phenomena which
previously were utterly obscure. Some of these phenomena I
propose to examine.
Putrefaction. — This may be considered to be a beautiful
device of nature's for disposing of dead organic matter, and for
converting it into substances which can again serve for the
nourishment of plants and animals. But for it this earth would
be a vast charnel-house ; we should be surrounded by the em-
blems of death, and not only so, but as the supply of substances
suitable for the nourishment of plants and animals is limited,
each race would gradually diminish the stock, which would
eventually become exhausted and the world no longer habitable.
As it is, however, no sooner does a plant or animal die or give up
its excretions, than the remains are fastened upon by an army
of scavengers, who gradually reduce them to simple compounds
which are either dissipated in the air, washed away by water,
or go to form earth. Every tyro in chemistry knows that every
atom of matter is indestructible, " and in its time plays many
parts."
Our army of scavengers are mainly organisms of the kind I
have been describing, and although much has been done to-
wards their study, much still remains to be done before we shall
be able to say definitely what their exact functions are. Thus
we do not know at present how many species there may be
engaged in the work, nor do we know with any exactness how
each species acts. It would appear, however, that putrefaction
is by no means a simple process, and that before a complex sub-
stance like albumen or white of egg can be resolved into simple
bodies like ammonia, water, and carbonic acid it has to be at-
tacked by successive gangs of these minute labourers, each gang
dying off after completing its share of the work and leaving
things in order for the operations of the next.
If any putrefying substance is examined with the microscope,
it is found to be swarming with organisms of nearly all the
forms I have described, viz., micrococci, bacteria, bacilli, spir-
illa, &c.
Hauser has devoted much time to the study of putrefactive
94 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
organisms, and believes that two species are especially active,
at all events in the earlier stages of the process. These he
terms, proteus mirahilis and proteus vulgaris respectively. They
are remarkable for the variety of forms they can assume, and
furnish an excellent example of pleomorphism. Hauser has
illustrated his work on the subject with some very beautiful
micro-photographs (taken from nature) of these organisms in
their various stages of existence.
Many interesting and highly important observations have
been made with regard to the nature of the substances produced
during putrefaction. Thus it has been shown by Selmi and
others that putrefying animal matter frequently contains certain
substances closely resembling in their properties some of the
most poisonous alkaloids found in the vegetable kingdom.
These have been called Ptomaines^ and their significance is very
great when we consider that in certain cases of suspected poison-
ing, corpses are often exhumed and are examined for alkaloids
among other poisons. It is by no means impossible that a
ptomaine might be mistaken for a poisonous alkaloid, and thus
a false suspicion or even conviction arise as to the cause of
death.
Again, many cases of poisoning have occurred from the con-
sumption of tainted meat, fish, cheese, &c. In such cases it is
also possible that the poisonous principles are ptomaines. It
has also been shown that " by the putrefaction of animal sub-
stances a body can be obtained — the septic poison or sepsine —
which is isolated by various chemical processes destructive of
every living organism, and which on injection into the vascular
system of animals, especally dogs, in sufficient quantities
occasions a marked febrile rise of temperature, and is capable
of causing death." *
Organisms causing definite chemical changes. — It is conceiv-
able that every species of micro-organisms induces perfectly
definite chemical changes in the medium in which it thrives.
There are, however, certain species which induce very simple
chemical reactions, and many of the latter are every-day
* Klein.
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 95
phenomena which have long been noticed and even employed
practically, although their cause was not understood. A few of
these changes deserve our attention.
The Lactic Ferment. — Everyone knows that when milk is
kept it becomes sour and curdles.
As early as 1 780 the Swedish chemist Scheele extracted from
sour milk a peculiar acid, which he named from its occurrence
lactic acid. It is obvious that the souring of milk is due to the
development of this acid ; but the question arises — From what
special substance in the milk is it formed, and what is the cause
of its development ?
Careful experiments have completely answered these ques-
tions. One of the chief constituents of milk is sugar, not
exactly the same as occurs in the sugar cane, but one which is
very analogous. This " milk sugar," as it is called, is extracted
from the whey of milk (chiefly in Switzerland), and is a com-
mercial product. Now it has been found that in proportion as
milk becomes sour the quantity of this sugar diminishes, and
under suitable conditions it disappears altogether. Further, if
a solution of sugar is mixed with a few drops of sour milk, the
sugar solution becomes sour and the acidity increases rapidly. It
is, therefore, pretty clear that the development of lactic acid in
milk is due to some transformation which the sugar suffers, and
we have only to compare the formulae of the two to see that a
simple chemical relationship exists between them. In fact,
every particle of sugar contains the necessary atoms to form
two particles of lactic acid, and we may represent the conversion
of the former into the latter by the following chemical equation :
QHioA = 2 C3H6O3
Sugar. Lactic Acid.
But what is the cause of this transformation ? Pasteur, guided
by his previous researches in alcoholic fermentation, sought for
and found the lactic ferment which consists of minute rods or
bacilli^ which are often jointed or beaded. They can readily be
seen in a droplet of sour milk with a \ inch power. By removing
some of them from sour milk, and sowing them in a suitable
96 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
saccharine medium, he saw them multiply and produce all the
effects of the lactic fermentation. As milk does not sour if
taken from the cow in such a manner that no dust or solid
particles can fall into it, there can be no question that its souring
is due to the introduction of the spores of the ferment from
dust or air.
The Butyric Ferment. — In a sugar solution which is under-
going lactic fermentation there is commonly developed, especially
towards the close of the operation, another acid, which from its
occurrence in rancid butter is called butyric acid. Pasteur
investigated the causes of its production, and found that here
again a minute organized ferment was at work, causing sugar
to undergo a perfectly definite decomposition into butyric and
carbonic acids and hydrogen gas. The change may be repre-
sented by the following equation : —
CeHi^Oe = C4H8O3 + 2CO2 -f H2
Sugar. Butyric Acid. Carbonic Acid. Hydrogen.
This change is remarkable on account of the hydrogen which is
produced, for I do not think there is any other instance known
in which it is formed under the influence of a living vegetable
organism. Advantage is taken of the circumstance in dyeing
wool and cloth with indigo, the dyer employing a vat containing
indigo diffused in water and a coarse kind of wheaten flour or
bran. The starch which the latter contains is first transformed
into sugar, which is eventually decomposed by the butyric
ferment, and the hydrogen which is liberated converts the indigo
into a colourless soluble substance which is readily absorbed by
the wool, but which is again converted into the indigo and
precipitated within the fibre when the wool is exposed to air.
I may mention that sugar is not the only substance upon
which the ferment acts, for it will also decompose tartaric, mucic,
and malic acids, and convert them into butyric acid.
The butyric ferment resembles the lactic ferment in appear-
ance, consisting of rods or bacilli.
The fact that sugar is capable of fermenting in three different
ways, and that these fermentations occur spontaneously, leads
Fermentation and Kindrid "Phenomena. 97
us to enquire why in grape juice alcoholic fermentation always
occurs, whilst in milk we seldom if ever find the yeast organism,
but always that of the lactic or butyric fermentation. Both
liquids contain sugar, yet each undergoes a different fermentative
change.
A little reflection will, however, enable us to understand the
reason. We must remember that other things besides sugar are
necessary for the proper growth of yeast, the lactic and butyric
ferments. Thus we have seen that yeast requires certain mineral
matters, and also certain nitrogenous substances, for its develop-
ment, and it is the same with the lactic and butyric ferments.
We know that certain plants thrive best in particular soils
and often become self-sown : thus the common sea pink flourishes
in the immediate neighbourhood of the sea, but is not found
inland. There is probably some peculiarity of the soil of seaside
localities which fit it especially for the nourishment of that plant.
In a precisely similar manner grape juice appears to be the liquid
most suitable for the yeast organism, whilst milk probably
contains those mineral and nitrogenous substances which are
essential for the nourishment of the lactic and butyric ferments.
The Acetic Ferment. — I suppose that everyone knows that
beer and wine when exposed to the air become sour, in fact
produce vinegar, which is manufactured commercially by this
very process. In proportion as the spirituous liquid grows acid
it is found to lose spirit ; hence it is obvious that the acid is
produced from the spirit. The chemical name for the acid which
is formed is acetic acid (from the Latin acetum^ vinegar), and
it is an elementary fact in chemistry that it can be produced by
the oxidation of spirit. Thus
C,H,0
+
Oo
H2O
+
CoH.O,
Spirit.
Oxygen.
Water.
Acetic Acid.
It was originally believed that vinegar was produced by the
simple chemical action of the oxygen of the air upon the spirit,
and it was considered that the action was especially induced by
porous bodies, which acted first as spongy platinum does, by
condensing the oxygen and thus bringing it into closer contact
98 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
with the spirit. Pasteur has proved, however, that the deter-
mining cause of the oxidation is a definite ferment which has
received the name of mycoderma aceti. It consists of minute
rods or chains of rods, which often become felted together,
forming a membrane somewhat Hke moist paper pulp to the
naked eye, and this membrane is frequently found on the surface
of the acidifying liquor, and is called the " mother of vinegar,"
or simply the " vinegar plant." Pasteur proved that the change
of spirit into vinegar is really caused by the action of this fer-
ment — and not by the simple action of the air — by a very
elegant experiment. He allowed weak spirit to trickle down
string (which is of course highly porous), and showed that in
spite of its porosity no oxidation occurred, even after a month.
He then steeped the cord in a liquid containing a pellicle of the
mycoderma, some of which adhered to it, and then as before
allowed the spirit to trickle down it, when it was rapidly
acetified.
The manufacture of vinegar is carried out at Orleans in accord-
ance with Pasteur's discoveries, the ferment being sown on the
surface of the wine or beer. When the surface is covered with
the membrane, the alcohol begins to acetify. From time to
time fresh wine or beer is added, and when the acetification has
terminated the membrane is collected, washed, and employed
for a new operation.
I have not sufficient time to describe all the organisms which
are capable of producing definite and well ascertained chemical
reactions, and can merely mention one or two others. The
ammonia ferment, which has the power of producing am-
monia or hartshorn from urea, a substance abundantly excreted
from carnivorous animals.
The nitre ferment, present in soil which oxidises ammonia to
nitric acid.
The glycerine-ethyl ferment, which converts glycerine into
spirit, &c.
Organisms causing the production of colouring matters. —
Certain organisms belonging to the group of schizomycetes
have the property of producing definite colouring matters,
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 99
either in their own tissues or in the medium upon which they
grow. At times the sudden and spontaneous appearance of
these organisms has created much wonder and awe. Thus, in
1 81 9, "a peasant at Liguara, near Padua, was terrified by the
sight of blood stains scattered over some polenta which had
been made and shut up in a cupboard on the previous evening.
Next day similar patches appeared on the bread, meat, and
other articles of food in the same cupboard. It was naturally
regarded as a miracle and a warning from heaven until the case
had been submitted to a Paduan naturalist." *
The cause was found to be due to a minute organism to which
the name micrococcus prodigiosiis was given. It has been found
in milk, paste, and even sacramental bread, where its appear-
ance was of course considered miraculous. The colouring
matter is not contained in the organism itself, but is produced
by it in the medium in which it thrives. It somewhat resem-
bles aniline red (magenta or rosaniline) in its properties.
Red Snow and Blood Rain are probably due to the same or
to a similar organism. At times milk is found to be quite blue —
a phenomenon of frequent occurrence on the German coast of
the Baltic. Formerly it was attributed either to a diseased
condition of the cow or to its consumption of vegetables con-
taining indigo. Fuchs, however, showed that it was caused by
an organism to which the name of bacillus cyanogenus was
given.
Many other colour-producing organisms have been discovered,
of which the following may be mentioned : —
Bacterium synxanthum^ in yellow milk.
Micrococcus aurantiacus^ occasioning orange patches at times
on cooked vegetables.
Micrococcus chlorintis, producing green patches occasionally
on cooked vegetables.
Micrococcus viola ceus, &c.
Any one can obtain these organisms (or at least some of them)
by exposing slices of potato (cut from potatoes well boiled in
their skins) for an hour or two to the air, and then preserving
• Troussart. Microbes, moulds, &C,
100 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
them under glass bell jars (ordinary propagating glasses do admir-
ably) on blotting paper moistened with weak corrosive sublimate
solution. The spores of the organisms are deposited from the
air on the potato slices, and after a few days develop into
coloured particles or colonies which rapidly increase in size.
Organisms of Disease. — I come now to perhaps the most
interesting and important part of my subject, viz : — to the con-
nection which exists between certain organisms and some of the
most serious diseases to which men and animals are prone.
That such a connection does exist has, I think, been very
clearly and definitely established, and the question which now
presents itself to medical men is not so much, are any diseases
caused by organisms ? but rather what diseases are not caused
by them ? I shall endeavour as briefly as possible to explain
the facts and arguments which have led scientific men to the
conclusion that certain diseases are caused by the introduction
into the system, and subsequent development, and rapid
multiplication of particular species of the schizomycetes.
I believe that the first observation tending in this direction
was made by two French doctors, Messrs. Rayer and Davaine,
to the effect that the blood of animals dead of splenic fever teems
with minute rod-like bodies resembling the bacilli found in hay
infusion.
This disease is one of the most deadly of those which are
incidental to live stock, either sheep or oxen, and is remarkable
for the suddenness of its appearance, and the rapidity of its
action. A day or two, or in many cases only a few hours elapse
from the time of its first symptoms to the fatal termination.
Man at times is subject to it — especially those who are engaged
in handling raw wool — whence the name ''wool sorter's disease,"
or " malignant pustule " as it is also called.
Rayer and Davaine made their observation in 1851, but at
the time they do not appear to have laid any great stress on it.
It was subsequently confirmed in Germany in 1857, by Pollender
and Brauell. At that time, however, the entire subject of
micro-organisms was in its infancy, their nature and effects
were not understood, and no doubt it would have appeared
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. i o i
ludicrous to assume for a moment that a minute organism,
quite invisible to the naked eye, could attack and slay in a few
hours a huge animal like an ox. But after Pasteur's memorable
researches in i86j, on the ferment of sour milk, it was clearly
shown that in spite of their minuteness, micro-organisms can
produce very marked and extensive effects, even in a large
quantity of matter, and Pasteur's work impressed Davaine so
strongly with the potency of micro-organisms, that he once
more returned to his observations of 1851, and became impressed
with the belief that the bacilli observed in the blood of animals
dead of splenic fever were no mere accidental accompaniments
of the disease, but its actual cause.
The hypothesis having been introduced that this particular
disease was really the work of micro-organisms, it was only
natural that they should be sought for in other ailments of a
similar kind, and the result has been a very distinct and impor-
tant gain to medical science. It is possible that the new theory
has fascinated medical men too much, and that they have too
readily convinced themselves that diseases of all kinds are caused
by organisms. It must, however, be borne in mind that inves-
tigations into the cause of disease are extremely difficult, and
that the results are at times extremely uncertain and misleading.
I think you will very naturally feel inclined to make this
remark — of course I mean if you are not acquainted with the
subject.
It is all very well to say that splenic fever is caused by
organisms because they are found in the blood of the animals
dead of the disease, but are not organisms almost universally
present, and may not their occurrence in the blood of the animals
be rather the effect than the cause 1 Do not they appear simply
because putrefaction (or some modification of it) has already
commenced ?
The question is perfectly fair and logical, and has probably
occurred to every one who has thought about the subject.
Something more must indeed be shown besides the mere fact
of the presence of organisms in the blood or tissues of an animal
dead of the disease. In fact beiore we can credit so startling a
I02 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
statement that the disease is caused by the organisms, we must
be shown a most convincing and complete chain of proofs.
Such a chain of complete proof seems to have been established.
As regards splenic fever, it is somewhat as follows : —
I St. We always observe in the blood and tissues of animals
suffering from the disease, rod-like organisms or bacilli.
2nd. It is possible to inoculate (with every precaution) an
artificial nourishing medium — say nutrient gelatine — with this
blood, and we find characteristic colonies from which we can
obtain a pure culture of the bacillus, with which we can inoculate
a sterile nourishing fluid like broth.
3rd. On injecting this broth into a healthy animal — a mouse,
a guinea pig, a sheep, or an ox, we find after a short interval all
the characteristics of splenic fever. The animal usually dies,
and in its blood are found countless bacilli of the kind from
which we originally started.
The argument appears complete, and I believe that Koch was
the first to maintain that no organism could be considered as
the cause of a disease, unless all the above conditions are fulfilled.
Koch has formulated the above conditions, thus —
(i) It is absolutely necessary that the micro-organisms in
question be present in the blood or diseased tissues of man or
animal suffering or dead from the disease. [In this respect
great differences exist, for in some infectious diseases the micro-
organisms, although absent in the blood are present in the
diseased tissues, whilst in others they are present in large
numbers in the blood only, or in the lymphatics only — Klein.]
(2) It is necessary to take these organisms from their nidus —
from the blood or tissues as the case may be — to cultivate them
artificially, i.e. outside the animal body, but by such methods
as exclude the accidental introduction into these media of other
micro-organisms ; to go on cultivating them from one cultivation
to another, for several successive generations, in order to obtain
them free from every kind of matter derived from the animal
body from which they have been taken in the first instance.
(3) After having thus cultivated the micro-organisms, it is
necessary to re-introduce them into the body of a healthy
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 1 03
animal susceptible to the disease, and in this way to show that
the animal becomes affected with the same disease as the one
from which the organisms were originally derived.
(4) It is necessary that in this so affected new animal the
same micro-organisms should again be found. " A particular
organism may be the cause of a particular disease, but, that
really and unmistakably it is so can only be inferred with
certainty when every one of the above conditions are fulfilled."
(Klein.)
You will allow me to glance for a few moments at some of the
most important diseases which have been thus shown to be
intimately associated with micro-organisms.
Tuberculosis. — This terrible disease, of which so many sufferers
die a lingering death, was proved by Koch to be due to a par-
ticular species of rod-like organism, which is called in consequence
bacillus tuberculosis. They are a great deal shorter and thinner
than the bacilli of spleen fever. Koch showed that they occur
in all tubercular growths of men, monkeys, cattle, birds, and
other animals, and in man they are found in the blood and
sputum. It is possible to cultivate them in an artificial nutrient
medium, best in solid blood serum ; and the disease can be
communicated to a healthy animal by injecting such a culture
into its system. In guinea-pigs and rabbits the disease requires
a period of " incubation" of three weeks and more; that is to
say, this period intervenes between the time of inoculation and
the first symptoms of the disease. It has been shown by inhala-
tion and feeding experiments that animals can be inoculated ;
and as the bacilli themselves require a high temperature for
their development it is probable that the disease is spread either
by the inhalation of the spores or by their being swallowed
with the food.
Cholera is one of the most dreaded of all diseases. Fearful
for the wholesale slaughter it causes when a locality is once,
so to speak, in its grasp, and fearful also for the terrible rapidity
of its action. It is said to originate in the valley of the Ganges,
where it is permanent or endemic, and yearly it spreads over
India. In Europe it first appeared at the commencement of
104 fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
the present century, since when there have been six visitations.
The first indications that cholera is caused by an organism
were the result of the researches of the French and German
commission sent to Alexandria in 1883 to investigate the disease.
Koch, a member of the German commission, discovered it, and
called it the " comma" bacillus, from its peculiar curved shape.
The bacillus is found in the intestine, but not in the blood ; it
can be cultivated on nutrient gelatine, and Koch has observed
that it readily multiplies in most articles of food, and even in
damp linen. It requires a fairly high temperature for favourable
development, but cold does not kill it. Koch also found the
organism in the stagnant waters of certain cholera-stricken
districts, and also in a tank, the water from which had apparently
produced the disease in several people who had used it for
drinking purposes. As soon as the bacilli disappeared from
the water, cholera cases ceased.
I believe that there is still some doubt as to this organism
being the cause of the disease, as inoculation experiments have
only been of very doubtful success. It has been asserted that
cholera has been communicated experimentally to guinea-pigs ;
but others have maintained that these animals did not show the
typical symptoms. Bochefontaine, of Paris, swallowed pills
containing choleraic matter ; but although he felt unwell for
some days no serious symptoms arose.
Many other diseases are believed to be due to organisms, and
of these I may enumerate the following : —
Name oj Disease. Nature of the Organism.
Diptheria Micrococcus
Erysipelas „
Pneumonia Bacteria
Leprosy Bacillus
Glanders
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 105
Organisms present in the system in health. — As the air we
inhale, the food we eat, and the water we drink, usually teem
with organisms, we are constantly introducing myriads of these
minute beings into our systems. Indeed, Miquel estimates the
number of spores introduced into the mouth at 300,000 a day !
The fact would lose some, at least, of its repugnance if we were
assured that when once introduced they would perish, but such
is not the case, as any one can see for himself by examining a
droplet of saliva under the microscope, when it will be found to
swarm with all kinds of organisms, micrococci, bacilli, spirilla,
leptothrix, &c. In fact the entire track of the alimentary canal
appears to be a kind of garden in which organisms find a suitable
soil for their growth and development. It has even been
asserted that certain species aid in the processes occurring
within our bodies, and assist digestion, &c. Thus we are sur-
rounded by an invisible host of organisms, some deadly, some
pobsibly of service to us. We offer admittance to all, but we
expect the deadly not to enter, and broadly speaking we are
immune from them. The doctor can enter a fever ward with-
out infection. A family may breathe the same air and only one
of its members is stricken with consumption. A Sister Dora
(and for that matter many a physician whose name we never
hear of) can suck a tracheotomy tube, and yet without catching
diphtheria. We are almost confident now that in each of these
cases a disease organism enters the systems of all concerned.
" Two women shall be grinding at the mill, one shall be taken,
and the other shall be left." At present I believe no satisfactory
explanation can be given of immunity.
Let me return for a moment to the organisms present in the
mouth. Adhering to the teeth are always to be found thread-
like organisms called IcptotJirix buccalis. They are supposed to
cause the decay of teeth, and there can be no doubt that micro-
scopic examination shows that the decayed parts are full of organ-
isms. Another very singular fact connected with the organisms
found in the mouth, is that very often virulent species are present,
that is to say human saliva when injected into healthy animals,
such as rabbits, produces grave affections often terminating in
1 06 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
death. The blood of the animals thus infected is full of
micrococci, and these can be cultivated by the ordinary methods.
The virulence of saliva differs considerably in different indi-
viduals.
Action of disease organisms. — Many questions arise from the
discovery of the connection between organisms and disease,
especially regarding the nature of their action upon the system.
It has been definitely proved, as I have explained, that many
species produce in the nourishing medium definite chemical
substances, some of which are excessively poisonous. Are the
diseases which are believed to be caused by organisms due to
the production of such poisons within the body ; or are the
blood and other secretions so altered in the nature as to be
unfit for the proper performance of their functions ; or are the
diseases caused by a merely mechanical action of the organisms
in plugging the minute blood vessels, and thus interfering with
circulation ? In fact, do the organisms act chemically or
mechanically ?
I do not see how these questions can be definitely answered
until the chemist submits them to a very searching experimental
enquiry. He ought, in the first place, to investigate the chemical
action of each disease organism ; to grow them in various
nutrient media, and to investigate the nature of the substances
they give rise to in each case. If such substances, when freed
from the organisms which produce them, are found, when
injected into healthy animals, to cause similar effects to those
produced by the diseases themselves, the question will be
decided.
There is an indication at least, if nothing more, that in certain
diseases it is the virus produced by the organism which acts,
and not the organism itself. Thus in spleen fever it often
happens that death is so rapid that only few bacilli occur in the
blood — quite too few either to cause the plugging of the small
vessels or to remove the oxygen from the blood, and thus to
deprive the system of that element.
Recovery from disease. — Another question which presents
itself to our minds is this — How is it that if an infectious disease
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 107
is caused by organisms, and such organisms we know can be
cultivated for any length of time in a suitable nourishing medium
outside the body (provided it is renewed from time to time) ;
how is it, I say, that we ever get rid of the disease ? For our
blood and tissues are constantly being renewed ; a suitable
pabulum is thus maintained for the continued growth of the
disease organisms, and therefore it would seem that when once
introduced they should continue to exist and never be got rid
of. But we know that the contrary is the case, at least as a
rule. Either the patient dies or recovers (quickly very often)
and loses all trace of the malady. How can his recovery be
accounted for ?
The explanation may be as follows : — We know that organisms
multiply very quickly in a suitable medium, and that the sub-
stances they produce are in many cases singularly antagonistic
to their existence. The yeast cell is killed when immersed in
a solution of spirit of a certain strength, and indol, skatol, and
phenol, bodies which are produced by certain putrefactive
organisms, are among the most powerful agents in arresting
putrefaction. Therefore it is not impossible that the disappear-
ance of an infectious disease and the recovery of the patient
may be due to some such action : the organisms causing the
disease multiplying rapidly up to a certain point, until, in fact,
they have produced so much of their peculiar virus that it
reacts upon themselves, and poisons off the whole crop.
But there is another explanation which is perhaps more
satisfactory. We know that organisms require certain definite
substances for their nourishment, and that therefore they thrive
in a culture fluid only so long as these substances are present.
Let us suppose that in the tissues of a healthy individual, a
small quantity only of one of these principles is present : he
catches an infectious disease, organisms are produced in abun-
dance in his system, and rapidly use up this small quantity, then
it is exhausted, the organisms no longer thrive, and eventually
perish. It may be that a very long time will elapse before the
convalescent can again accumulate the particular principle which
io8 Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
the organisms have used up, and during that period he will
suffer immunity from the same disease. This, as every one
knows, is very often the case.
Protection from disease. — Another question presents itself to
us, and perhaps it is the most important, from a practical point
of view, of any M^e have discussed. It is as follows : —
Granted that infectious diseases are caused by organisms, then,
surely as we know what is required for their nourishment, and
what is antagonistic to their existence, we ought to be able to
devise some means for preventing their ravages among men and
animals. An answer in the affirmative to part of this question
was (to a certain extent) anticipated long ago, though un-
consciously, by the introduction of vaccination as a preventive
of smallpox. Perhaps few people know how ancient this
operation is, for it appears to have been known to the Arabs and
Chinese as early as the loth century, and was also practised in
India by the Brahmins, a public crier announcing that he had
smallpox virus to sell. It was introduced into England I may
say accidentally in George the First's reign.
The principle of vaccination is to give (by inoculation) a
mild type of small-pox, which has the effect either of rendering
the individual vaccinated entirely secure from an accidental
attack of the malady, or in case he does take the disease to very
materially moderate its violence. To Pasteur belongs the
triumph of having proved that the vaccination method can be
extended to other diseases incidental not only to man but to
animals also. Thus with spleen fever or anthrax he prepares
vaccine matter by cultivating the bacillus in an artificial medium
for a considerable time at a high temperature. By this means
it becomes " attenuated."
" At the end of a week the culture which at first killed the
whole of ten sheep which had been inoculated with it, now
only killed four or five, and in ten to twelve days it ceased to
kill any — merely giving them a mild form of the disease and
protecting them from further attack" — proved by inoculating
them with the virulent virus, " The vaccine thus obtained in
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena. 109
Pasteur's laboratory is now distributed throughout the world,
and has already saved numerous flocks from almost certain
extinction."* Pasteur proceeded in a precisely similar manner
in preparing a vaccine for fowl cholera — a very fatal disease
incidental to poultry. Another method for preparing a vaccine
fluid for various diseases, consists, so to speak, in passing the
disease in question from one species of animal to another ; the
second species (in certain cases) taking only a slight illness, and
then becoming protected against the virulent form. " Thus
while the bacillus (from the blood) of sheep or cattle dead of
anthrax invariably produces death when inoculated into sheep
or cattle, after passing through white mice loses its virulence
for those animals. The blood of white mice dead of anthrax
does not kill sheep, but only produces a transitory illness, and
the animals are for a time at least protected against the virulent
disease." (Klein.)
Pasteur, in his now famous experiments on hydrophobia, at
first made use of a similar method. He proved first of all that
the disease is to a large extent localised in the nervous system.
Thus a healthy dog is very rapidly inoculated by exposing its
brain, and then inoculating the surface of that organ with a
particle of the brain of a rabid animal. To attenuate the virus
he inoculated a rabbit's brain with a morsel of the brain of a
mad dog, then passed the disease from the rabbit to a monkey,
whence it became attenuated, and a protective vaccine for dogs.
His present method is quite different, and consists in inoculating
with the crushed spinal cord of a rabbit dead of hydrophobia,
the cord being previously exposed to pure air for a certain
number of days.
Antiseptics and Disinfectants. — It has long been known that
various chemical substances prevent and arrest putrefaction, and
hinder the spread of infectious diseases. In fact, that such was
the case was known long before the "germ" theory had been
introduced. As soon as it was discovered that putrefaction and
infectious diseases are closely allied, and are both caused by
• Troussart,
no Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena.
living organisms, the reason for the action of antiseptics and
disinfectants became intelligible. It then became apparent that
they act as poisons on the organisms
I do not desire to detain you long on this subject, but there
are certain points connected with it of considerable importance
which I ought to touch upon. If we take a putrefying liquid
and add to it a very small quantity of carbolic acid, corrosive
sublimate, chloride of zinc, &c., the putrefaction stops. The
organisms are poisoned, and consequently they perish. Simi-
larly, after a case of an infectious disease, sulphur is burnt in the
room occupied by the patient, or chlorine is evolved from
bleaching powder, everything is well washed with carbolic acid,
and the bedding is burnt.
Have all the disease organisms or their spores been destroyed ?
I am decidedly of opinion that they have not, and chiefly for
this reason : that the spores of an organism have an extra-
ordinary power of resistance to destructive agencies. Thus the
spores of the hay bacillus can be completely dried, and can
actually be boiled with water for a considerable time without
losing their vitality. It might be argued that the hay bacillus
is not a disease organism, and that the latter are more easily
destroyed. Possibly this is the case with some, but certainly
not with others. Thus it has been proved that a solution of
corrosive sublimate — the most powerful antiseptic we are ac-
quainted with — stops the growth of the spores of bacillus
anthracis, even when the solution contains only one part of cor-
rosive sublimate to 300,000 of water. But, on the other hand,
the spores have not lost their vitality, for Klein has shown that
they may be soaked in a one per cent, solution of corrosive sub-
limate for twenty-four hours, and yet when removed and
injected into animals the latter soon die of tpyical spleen fever.
Several years ago Professor Fuller and I tried a number of
experiments on the action of gaseous antiseptics, such as
chlorine, bromine, the fumes of burning sulphur, ozone, &c., on
putrefactive organisms, or rather on their spores, and we were
simply astonished at their power of resistance. Bromine ap-
Fermentation and Kindred Phenomena, 1 1 1
peared to be the most active disinfectant ; and I think it mi<;ht
be used with advantage as a substitute for the fumes of burning
sulphur, which in our experiments appeared to have no appre-
ciable effect.
It appears to me that a series of complete experiments should
be tried with different antiseptics on the spores of each of the
disease organisms, for in the absence of the information which
would thus be gleaned it is impossible to say how far disinfec-
tion is of service. It is perfectly within the bounds of possi-
bility that great differences in the resisting power of the spores
of various organisms exists, and that in some cases disinfection
is of real service, whilst in others it is mere waste of time.
112
%th April, 1887.
W. H. Patterson, Esq., M.R.I. A., in the Chair.
R. Lloyd Patterson, Esq., J.P., F.L.S., read a Paper
entitled,
SOME ACCOUNT OF THE WHALE AND SEAL
FISHERIES, PAST AND PRESENT.
The reader commenced by giving a brief historical sketch of
the whale-fishing industry, which he said had been discovered
or invented by the inhabitants of the Basque Provinces of Spain,
in the Bay of Biscay, as early as the 12th century. A whale
still figures in the coats of arms of some of the Basque towns ;
and, long after that portion of the whale fishery which had
been prosecuted with much success by the Basques had ceased
to exist, the English and Dutch whale-fishers continued to
employ Basques as harpooners or *' whale-strikers," as they are
called in the still extant accounts of Baflfin's celebrated voyage,
when twenty-four of these men accompanied the expedition in
that capacity. After describing at some length the pursuit and
capture of the pilot whale ( Glohicephalus melas) at the Faroe
Islands, where several hundred of these comparatively small
cetaceans are sometimes taken at a single drive, the lecturer
alluded to the flourishing state of the Newfoundland whale
fisheries up to and about the years 1785 and 1786, when Govern-
ment paid a bounty of 40s. per ton to each vessel of two
hundred tons or upwards engaged in it, and when the number
of vessels amounted to between two and three hundred. The
trade continued highly prosperous for many years, but from
1840 or thereabouts it declined, owing to the diminishing
numbers of the whales and the lower value of the oil, and lost
or worn-out vessels were not replaced. The trade languished
The Whale and Seal Fislieries. 1 1 3
up to aboul i860, when the application of steam-power to the
ships gave it a fresh start, as the vessels were thus enabled to
penetrate to higher latitudes and to follow the " fish," as they
are called, into previously almost inaccessible haunts. Vessels
now go out on combined sealing and whaling voyages. Pro-
ceeding first to St. John's, Newfoundland, they ship from two
to three hundred extra hands for the sealing voyage. The
young seals are born on the ice from about the 15th to the 25th
of February, and the aim of the sealers is to find these young
seals when they are three to four weeks old, as the oil they
then yield is superior to that at any other period of their
growth. At this stage of their growth they are called " white-
coats," and in the vernacular of the island their pursuit is
called " swile huntin'," the hunters being known as " soilers,"
a corruption of sealers. Mr. Patterson gave a graphic descrip-
tion of the manners, food, and clothing of these men, of their
perilous occupation and the chances of success or failure. One
vessel, if she be fortunate, may return to port in two or three
weeks with thirty to forty thousand young seals on board ;
while another vessel, equally well found, if unlucky, may be
twice the time out and return to port " clean," as it is called,
that is empty, having been entirely unsuccessful. Many
instances of this were given, and the vessels and their captains
mentioned by name, special mention being made of Captain
Guy, of the s.s. "Arctic," a native of Larne. After returning
from the sealing voyage the vessels refit and proceed to their
summer whale-fishing, which is carried on in the usual manner.
On this whaling voyage in 1884 several of the Dundee fleet
took part, for some time, in the search for the missing United
States expedition under the command of Lieutenant Greely.
Frequent and most appreciative mention is made ol these bold
and dashing whaling captains in Commander Schley's published
account of the expedition which discovered and rescued Greely
and the small remnant of his crew, only seven remaining alive
out of the party of twenty-four. The lecturer then gave statis-
tical particulars of the vessels engaged in the trade, and the
results of their operations were given for the last six years,
114 ^^* Whale and Seal Fisheries,
Mr. Patterson mentioning the catches of this present season by
the s.s. " Terra Nova" and another vessel. Five of the Dundee
and Peterhead fleet were lost last year. For these particulars
Mr. Patterson said he was indebted to his friend Mr. George
Halley, of Dundee. After some mention of the seal, whale,
and walrus fisheries, carried on principally by the Norwegians
in European Arctic waters, the lecturer gave an interesting
account, derived from his friend Mr. Henry Seebohm, of an
important whale fishery that is carried on by steamers, with
their headquarters on land on the Varanger Fiord, between
Norway and Russia, and also mentioned an important shark
fishery that is prosecuted with much success and profit near
Iceland. Mr. Patterson next gave a brief account of the
abundance of seal life on the Alaskan coasts and Aleutian
Islands, in the North Pacific and Behring's Sea, and concluded
his paper by a description of the pursuit and capture of the fur
seals on the Pribylov Islands, St. Paul's, and St. George, where
these creatures are to be found in myriads during the season ;
but a wise restriction as to the numbers that may be taken is
preserving the race from that annihilation that seems to be
threatening the seals in other places.
At the conclusion of his paper Mr. Patterson exhibited the
skull of a very rare cetacean, the White-beaked Dolphin,
Delphinus albirostris, the only example of the species the
capture of which has been recorded in Ireland. This occurred
at Donaghadee, and the record of the capture was made by
Mr. M'Gowan of that place.
I'S
t^th April, 1887.
W. H. Patterson, Esq., M.R.I.A., in the Chair.
Conway Scott, Esq., B.E., read a Paper on
EPIDEMIC DISEASES: CAN THEY BE STAMPED
OUT?
In the course of his remarks Mr. Scott said that the great
characteristic property of infection is its innate power of
reproducing itself or multiplying itself without limit, and,
under certain circumstances, without the slightest loss of its
deadly qualities. Milk is a medium by which disease is
very frequently communicated to persons, and the infinitesimal
amount of infection falling into milk has multiplied itself so
as to fill the whole milk supply, every glass of which can
carry the disease as readily as the original matter. On the
whole, there can be little doubt but that the human race has
suffered infinitely more from epidemic diseases than from all
the wars that have ever been engaged in and all the battles
that have ever been fought. The lecturer went on to speak of
the organic nature of all epidemic diseases, and said that the
late Dr. Ritchie, who was one of the largest-minded scientific
men that Ulster had ever produced, was a most thorough
believer in the organic nature of all epidemic diseases, and that
he more than forty years ago, when these subjects were hardly
ever thought of, applied his practical knowledge to the
stamping out of such diseases with great success. Mr. Scott
then went on to deal with the different modes of disinfection,
which means any process by means of which c^ganisms of all
kinds are killed, as every process which can kill ordinary
organisms will to a much greater extent kill these disease-
producing organisms, which cannot be seen, and are only
ii6 Epidemic Diseases.
known by their fatal consequences. If you want to kill
any organism, from the highest to the lowest, put it into
a fire or furnace. The organism is completely taken up and
reduced to gases and vapour, and every spark of life is extin-
guished. The liquid mode of disinfection consists in sur-
rounding the infected matter with some liquid containing any
substance in solution which has the property of killing an
organic body. He illustrated this by stating that all the fisher-
men in a district, with their rods, nets, and lines, cannot
destroy all the fish in any particular lake ; but if the contents
of some flax dam be emptied into the lake, all the fish, young
and old, large and small, will soon be dead, killed or poisoned
by the action of the flax- water. The aerial mode of disinfection
consists in surrounding and filling the pores of the infected
matter with a sufficient volume of gases or vapours which have
the property of killing all the disease organisms contained in
the infected body or mass of matter. It is impossible to
over-estimate the extraordinary effect that even slight changes
in the aerial surroundings or environments have upon every
organism, from a man down to the disease-producer. The
lecturer then proceeded to explain the properties of the different
liquids and gases commonly used for disinfecting purposes,
referring especially to carbolic acid, whose characteristic pro-
perty is its extraordinary power of destroying the lowest
forms of life. Carbolic acid vapour can be generated by
pouring the liquid acid into a hollow tin heater which has
been raised to a very high temperature in any ordinary fire,
and large quantities of that vapour can be thus thrown off" in
a very short time. In fact, there is no practical difficulty in
generating any quantity of that vapour in any place where
there is sufficient fire to heat up the little machine to which
he referred. That vapour does not attack the metals, and
does not destroy articles exposed to it ; and when moderate
quantities of it are used it has no injurious action on the
human or animal system, being thus unlike all the other dis-
infectants of that class. After many years' experience in small-
pox, typhus fever, scarlatina, and diphtheria, he can with
Epidemic Diseases. 1 1 7
confidence recommend this vapour as the most certain means
of killing all the organisms which produced epidemic disease.
As a matter of fact those organisms cannot exist for any
length of time in an atmosphere of carbolic acid vapour. The
lecturer then dealt with the disinfection of solid bodies, and
gave a number of practical examples of the great utility of
carbolic acid vapour as a disinfectant. In a man of drunken
or dissipated habits the disease will probably attack him,
because his diseased system offers the readiest hiding-place to
those organisms. If a man be in a state of fear or nervous
apprehension he is nearly sure to take the disease. The fear
will reduce his system, and enable the disease to take hold
on him. The lecturer concluded by saying that he would on
a future date continue the subject, which is an all important
one, and deal with other branches of the subject of epidemic
disease.
B E L :P .A- S T
i^atural listorg ^ J|Ijil0S0pl)ital Smttu^
Officers and Council of Management for i886-Sy.
PROFESSOR E. A. LETTS, Ph. D.
■^tce-^rcsi&citfs :
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esq., J.P. I WM. SWAXSTON, Esq., F.G.S.
JOHN BROWN, Esq. ] JOSEPH WRIGHT, Esq., F.G.S.
^treasurer :
JOHN BROWN, Esq.
jilibratrian :
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esq., J.P.
ROBERT M. YOUNG, Esq., B.A.
Council :
PROFESSOR E. A.. LETTS, Ph. D.
PROFESSOR R. 0. CUNNINGHAM, M.D.
W. H. PATTERSON, Esa., M.R.I.A.
ROBERT Macadam, Esq.
PROFESSOR J. D. EVERETT, F.R.S.
R. L. PATTERSON, Esq., J.P., F.L.S.
THOMAS WORKMAN, Esq., J.P.
ROBERT YOUNG, Esq., C.E.
JOSEPH WRIGHT, Esq., F.G.S.
JOHN BROWN, Esq.
J. H. GREENHILL, Esq., Mus. Bac.
JOSEPH JOHN MURPHY, Esq.
WILLIAM SWANSTON, Esq., F.G.S.
JAMES WILSON, Esq., M.E.
E. M. YOUNG, Esq., B.A.
119
[* Denotes hoMem of three or more Shares.]
•Alexander, James, J.P. (Representatives of), Holywood.
Allen, R. H., Mus. Bac, College Green, Belfast.
Anderson, John, J. P., F.G.S., Hillbrook, Holywood.
Andrews, Elizabeth, College Gardens, Belfast.
Andrews, George, Ardoyne, do.
Andrews, Samuel, J. P., Seaview, do.
Archer, Henry, Orlands, Carrickfergus.
Barbour, James, Ardville, Marino.
*Batt. Thomas G. (Representatives nf), Stranmillis, Belfast.
Bland, Robert H., J.P., Woodbank, Whiteabbey.
Bottomley, Henry H., Hughenden, Fortwilliam Park, Belfast.
*Bottomley, William, J.P. (Representatives of) do.
Boyd, William, Great Victoria Street, do.
Boyd, William Sinclair, Ravenscroft, Bloomfield, do.
Brett, Charles H., Gretton Villa South, Malone Road, do.
Bristow, James R., The Park, Dunmurry.
Brown, John Shaw, J.P. (Reps, of), Edenderry House, Belfast.
Brown, John, Bedford Street, do.
Brown, William K., Rushmere, do.
Burden, Henry, M.D., M.R.I.A., Alfred Street, do.
Burnett, John R., Martello House, Holywood.
Calwcll, Alex. M'D.. College Square North, Belfast.
*Campbell, Miss Anna, Howard Street, do.
Campbell, John, Lennoxvale, do.
Carson, John, Church Lane, do.
*Charley, John (Representatives of), Finaghey, do.
'Charters, John (Representatives of), do.
Clarke, Edward H., Elm wood House, do.
Clermont, Lord, M.R.LA. (Representatives of), Ravensdale
Park, Newry.
120 Shareholders.
Coates, Victor, J.P., Rathmore, Dunmurry.
Connor, Charles C, J.P., Nottinghill House, Belfast.
Crawford, William, Calender Street, do.
Cuming, James, M.A., M.D., Wellington Place, do.
Cunningham, Robt., O., M.D., F.L.S., College Gardens, do.
*Deramore, Lord, D.L., Belvoir Park, do.
*Donegall, Marquis of.
*Downshire, Marquis of, Hillsborough Castle.
Drennan, John S., M.D., Prospect Terrace, Belfast.
♦Drummond, Dr. James L. (Representatives of), do.
Duffin, Adam, 29 University Terrace, do.
Emerson, William, Donegall Quay, do.
Everett, Joseph D., M.A., D.C.L., F.R.S., Lennoxvale, do.
Ewart, Lavens M., J. P., Glenbank House, do.
Ewart, Sir William, Bart., J. P., M.P., Glenmachan House,
Strandtown.
Ewart, William Quartus, Schomberg, Strandtown.
Pagan, John, F.R.C.S.L, Glengall Place, Belfast.
Farrell, Wm.. James, Annadale Cottage, Newtownbreda.
Fenton, Samuel G., J.P., Windsor, Belfast.
Ferguson, Henry, M.D., Fisherwick Place, do.
Finlay, William Laird, J.P., Arlington, Windsor, do.
Fitzgerald, Professor Maurice, B.A., Assoc. M.LC.E.,
Botanic Avenue, do.
Forsythe, Robert H., Holy wood.
*Getty, Edmund (Representatives of), Belfast.
Girdwood, H. Mercer, Broughton Pendleton, Manchester.
Gordon, Alexander, M.D. (Representatives of), Ringneal,
Comber.
Gordon, Robert W., J. P., Summerfield, Dundonald.
*Grainger, Rev. Canon, D.D., M.R.I.A., Broughshane, Bally-
mena.
Gray, William, M.R.LA., Mountcharles, Belfast.
Greenhill, John H., Mus. Bac, Richmond Terrace, do.
Greer, Thomas, J. P., M.R.LA., Seapark, Carrickfergus.
Shareholders. 1 2 1
♦Hamilton, Hill, J.P. (Representatives of), Mountvernon, Belfast.
Hamilton, Sir James, J.P., (Representatives of), do.
Harland, Sir E. J., Bart., J.P., Glenarm Castle.
Heburn, William, Clonard Mill, Belfast.
Henderson, Miss Anna S., Windsor Terrace, do.
Henderson, James, A.M., Norwood Tower, Strandtown, do.
Henderson, Robert, High Street, do.
*Henry, Alexander, Manchester.
Herdman, John, J. P., Carricklee House, Strabane.
*Herdman, John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Heyn, James, A.M., Ulster Chambers, do.
Hind, James (Representatives of), do.
Hind, John, J.P., do.
Hind, John, Jun., College Street South, do.
Hodges, John F., M.D., F.C.S., J.P., Derryvolgie Avenue, do.
Hogg, John, Academy Street, do.
Holford, Thomas and Arthur, Cern Abbas, Dorsetshire.
♦Houston, John Blakiston, J.P., D.L,, Orangefield, Belfast.
*Hughes, Edwin, i Lombard Street, do.
Hyndman, Hugh, LL.D., Livingstone Terrace, do.
Inglis, James, Abbey\nlle, Whiteabbey.
Jackson, Thomas, C.E., Altona, Strandtown, Belfast.
Jaffe, John, J.P., Edenvale, Strandtown, do.
Jaffe, Otto, Canadian Villas, Strandtown, do.
Johnston, Samuel A., J. P., Dalriada, Whiteabbey.
Keegan, John J., J. P., Brooklyn, Holywood.
Kennedy, James, Richmond Lodge, Belfast,
Kennedy, William, Kenbella House, do.
Kidd, George, Lisnatorc, Dunmurry.
*Kinghan, Rev. John, Altona, Windsor, Belfast
Kyle, Robert Alexander, Richmond Terrace, do.
Lanyon, Sir Charles, J.P., D.L., The Abbey, Whiteabbey.
Lemon, Archibald Dunlop, J.P., Edgecumbe, Belfast,
122
Shareholders.
Lepper, F. R., Ulster Bank, Belfast.
Letts, Professor E. A., Ph.D.,F.C.S.,Viewmount,Windsor, do.
L^tle, David B., J. P., University Square, do.
*Macrory, A. J. (Representatives of), Belfast.
Malcolm, Bowman, Richmond Crescent, do.
Meharg, James, Ardlussa, do.
Milligan, Seaton Forrest, Royal Terrace, do.
♦Mitchell, George T. (Representatives of), do.
Mitchell, W. C, J.P., Ardilea, do.
Montgomery, Thomas, J. P., Ballydrain House, do.
Moore, James, J.P. (Representatives oO, Craigavad.
Moore, James, College Gardens,
*Mulholland, Andrew, J.P. (Representatives of),
Mulholland, John, J.P., D.L., Ballywalter Park.
Mullan, William, Lindisfarne, Marlborough Park,
Murney, Henry, M.D., J. P., Tudor House, Holywood
*Murphy, Isaac James, Armagh.
*Murphy, Joseph John, Osborne Park,
Murray, Robert Wallace, J.P., Fortwilliam Park,
Musgrave, Edgar, Drumglass, Malone,
*Musgrave, Henry, Drumglass, Malone,
Musgrave, James, J.P., Drumglass, Malone,
MacAdam, Robert, College Square East,
M'Bride, Samuel, Bedford Street,
*M'Calmont, Robert, London.
*M'Cammon, Thomas, Dublin.
M'Cance, Finlay, J. P., Suffolk, Dunmurry.
*M*Cance, J. W. S. (Representatives of), Suffolk, Dunmurry.
•M'Clure, Sir Thomas, Bart., J.P., V.L., Belmont, Belfast
*M'Cracken, Francis (Representatives of), Donegall Square, do.
M'Gee, James, High Street, do.
M'Gee, Samuel Mackey, Clifton Park Avenue, do.
*MacIlwaine, Mrs. Jane (Representatives of), Ulsterville, do.
*MacIlwaine, John H., Brandon Villa, Strandtown, do.
MacLaine, Alexander, J.P., Queen's Elms, do.
• M'Neill, George, Malone Road, do.
Belfast,
do.
Belfast.
Belfast,
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
do.
S/ia reh o Idcrs. 123
Neill, John R., Roseville, Windsor, Belfast.
Patterson, David C, Craigavad.
Patterson, Edward Forbes, Holy wood.
Patterson, Mrs. M. E., Ardmore Terrace, Holy wood.
Patterson, Richard, J. P., Kilmore, Holywood.
♦Patterson, Robert Lloyd, J.P., F.L.S., Croft House. Holywood,
Patterson, William H., M.R.I. A., Garranard, Strandtown,
Belfast.
Patterson, William R., College Park East, Belfast.
Pirn, Edward W., Elmwood Terrace, do.
♦Pirrie, John M., M.D. (Representatives of), do.
Porter, Drummond, Botanic Avenue, do.
Purser, Professor John, M.A., M.R.I. A., Queen's College, do.
Rea, John Henry, M.D., University Road, do.
Riddel, William, J. P., Beechmount, do.
Ritchie, William B., M.D., J.P. (Reps, of), The Grove, do.
Robertson, William, J.P., Netherleigh, Strandtown, do.
Robinson, John, St. James' Crescent, do.
Rowan, John, York Street, do.
Shillington, Thomas Foulkes, Castleton Park, do.
Simms, Felix Booth, Prospect Terrace, do.
Sinclair, Thomas, M.A., J. P., Hopefield, do.
Smith, John, Castleton Terrace, do.
Smyth, Travers, Sandymount, do.
Smyth, John, Jun., M.A., C.E., Milltown, Banbridge,
Steen, Robert, Ph.D., Academical Institution. Belfast.
Steen, W., Fitzroy Avenue, do.
Suffern, John, Windsor, do.
Suffern, William (Representatives of), do.
Swanston, William, F.G.S., Cliftonville Avenue, do.
*Tennent, Robert (Representatives of), Rushpark, do.
•Tennent, Robert James, J. P., D.L., (Representatives of),
Rushpark, Belfast
124
Shareholders.
♦Thompson, James, J. P., Macedon, Whiteabbey.
♦Thompson, Nathaniel (Representatives of).
Thompson, Robert, J.P., (Representatives of), Fortwilliam Park,
Belfast.
♦Thompson, William, (Representatives of), Belfast.
Torrens, Mrs. Sarah H., Edenmore, Whiteabbey.
♦Turnley, John (Representatives of), Belfast.
Valentine, G. F., The Moat, Strandtown,
Valentine, James W., Cromwell Terrace,
do.
do.
Walkington, D. B., Thornhill, Malone.
Walkington, Thomas R., Laurel Lodge, Strandtown, Belfast.
Wallace, James, Ulster Bank, do.
Ward, Francis D., J.P., M.R.I.A., Clonaver, Strandtown, do.
Ward, Isaac W., Colin View Terrace,
Whitla, Wm., M.D., College Square,
Wilson, James, Old Forge, Dunmurry.
Wilson, John K., Marlborough Park,
♦Wilson, Robert M., Dublin.
Workman, Francis, College Gardens,
Workman, John, J. P., Windsor,
Workman, Rev. Robert, Glastry, Kirkcubbin.
Workman, Rev. Robert, Newtownbreda.
*Workman, Thomas, J.P., Craigdarragh,
Workman, William, Nottinghill,
Wright, Joseph, F.G.S., York Street,
Young, Robert, C.E., Rathvarna,
*Young Robert Magill, B.A., Ardgreenan,
do.
do.
Belfast.
Belfast.
do.
Belfast.
do.
do.
do.
Belfast.
do.
HONORARY ASSOCIATES.
Robinson, Hugh, Clive Villas, Belfast.
Stewart, Samuel A., F.L.S., North Street, do.
Tate, Professor Ralph, F.G.S., F.L.S., Adelaide, South
Australia.
Shareholders. 125
ANNUAL GUINEA SUBSCRIBERS.
Barklie, Robert, F.C.S., Working Men's Institute, Belfast.
Bruce, James, J. P., D.L., Thorndale House, do.
Carr, James, Rathowen. Windsor, do.
Corry, Sir James Porter, Bart., J. P., M.P., Dunraven,
Windsor. Belfast.
Craig, James, J. P.. Craigavon, Slrandtown.
Dunville, Robert G., J. P.. D.L.. Redburnc, Ilulywood.
Glass, James, J. P., Carradarragh, Windsor, Belfast.
Graham, O. B., J. P., Larchlield, Lisburn.
Loewenthal, J., Ashley Avenue, Belfast.
Luther, William, M.D., Chlorine House, do.
Lynn, William H., C.E., R.H.A., Crumlin Terrace, do.
Marsh, John, Glenlyon, Holywood.
Matier, Henry, J.P., Dunlambert, Foitwilliam, Belfast.
Mulholland, J. R. T., J. P., Northumberland Street. do.
Murray, Robert, Corporation Street, do.
M'AuliflFe, George, J. P., Scoutbush, Greenisland.
Oakman, Nicholas, Prospect Terrace, Belfast.
Pirn, Joshua, Slieve-na-Failthe, Whiteabbey-
Pring, Richard W., Firmouut, Fortwilliam Park, do.
Reade, Robert H., J. P., Wilmont, Dunmurry.
Redfern, Professor Peter, M.D., F.R.C.S.L., Lower
Crescent, Belfast.
Reeves, Right Rev. Dr., Lord Bishop of Down and Connor
and Dromore, Conway House, Dunmurry.
Rogers, John, Windsor Avenue, do.
Ross, William A., The Ivies, Craigavad.
Stannus, A. C, Greenisland.
Taylor, Sir David, J. P., Bertha Windsor, Belfast.
Taylor, John Arnott, M.A., J.P., Drum House, Dunmurry.
Tate, Alexander, C.E., Longwood, Whitehouse.
Watt, R., C.E., Victoria Street, Belfast.
Webb, Richard T., Greenisland.
Wolff, G. W., The Den. Strandlown, Belfast.
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