The dwelling house / by George Vivian Poore.

  • George Vivian Poore
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The dwelling house / by George Vivian Poore. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    ally their dangerously dense population will have a density twice as great. We shall some day recognise the futility of fighting against Nature. It is the engineer’s business to overcome natural obstacles, and we of the medical profession cannot but have the greatest admiration for the many dis- tinguished members of that sister profession which, by its skill and daring, has in countless ways assisted the develop- ment of our commerce and manufactures. They have, indeed, ‘expelled Nature with a pitchfork,’ but it behoves us to remember the rest of the quotation. We must dis- tinguish also between brilliancy of achievement and the end attained. We all of us admire the brilliant men who made the Thames Tunnel, built the ‘Great Eastern’ steam- ship, and gave us the luxury of the broad-gauge railway ; but it is doubtful if the original shareholders in those enterprises would participate in our enthusiasm. Money will accomplish nearly anything in the engineering way, and it is not the engineer’s business to consider the finan- cial side of the question. I have always had a shrewd suspicion that Archimedes was possibly less admired by the Syracusan ratepayer than by the rest of the world, and I have often pondered whether, had he lived in these days, and had made his famous request of dds wot ora, the Local Government Board would have sanctioned the issuing of a Syracusan 3 per cent. stock to provide the fulcrum for which he asked. I frequently meet friends who say, ‘ I’ve been reading that article of yours about the earth,’ and so forth, and then, after patting one on the back and being charmingly com- plimentary, they generally end by asserting that, after all, the convenience of the water-closet more than counteracts its disadvantages. The fascinations of this winsome apparatus seem unconquerable, and one is bound to confess that— provided the machine be of a good pattern and well made ;
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