Earlier in his speech, in which he proposed the health ofthe King and the Parent Institutions, Mr. Pearson said that this was the first time that the three British Engineering Institutions had dined together. The Institution of Civil Engineers was established 110 years ago, and originally included all branches of the engineering profession, other than soldiers. In consequence it considered itself to be the parent of all the numerous engineering bodies formed since. The Institution of Mechanical Engineers was formed twenty years after the Civils, and now had a membership of 12,000,500 more than the Civils.
The. youngest member of the family, the Electricals, came into being a mere 67 years ago, but now had a membership half as large again as either of the two older organizations. In most continental were used for the benefit of civilization rather than was so often done, for its retardation and destruction.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.