Page:Whalley 1822 A vindication of the University of Edinburgh .djvu/32

 linen, silk, together with the various chemical arts of bleaching, of preparing cloth, of printing it, of using adjective and substantive colours, and mordants or intermemediates [sic] in dying. He explains in general, the nature of machinery, the moving powers, such as water-wheels, wind-mills, and particularly the agency of steam, which is the great cause of the modern improvement and extension of manufactures.—He treats likewise on the subjects which relate to the carrying on, or facilitating the commerce of the country, such as inland navigation, the construction of bridges, aqueducts, locks, inclined planes, and other contrivances, by which vessels are raised or lowered from one level to another; of ships, docks, harbours, and naval architecture.—On the whole, it is the great design of these lectures, to excite the attention of persons already acquainted with the principles of mathematics, philosophy, and chemistry, to real practice; and by drawing their minds to the consideration of the most useful inventions of ingenious men, in all parts of the Kingdom, to enlarge their sphere of amusement and instruction, and to promote the improvement and progress of the arts.