wealthy, and in the parlors of those who aimed at the luxuries and refinements of life. They were costly luxuries; too costly to admit the application of perfected talent.

How changed our condition! Years have vanished like moments; for now, from the gilded halls of city wealth and rich refinement to the wilderness where yet prowls the wolf, sweet sounds are heard; Europe's best talent and most gifted powers seek eagerly our shores, and find a welcome amid admiring millions→ all conversant with song; many, very many, adepts in the science of sound and of harmony. In our cities, villages, and hamlets, all do honor alike the precious gift. Again and again it has happened, as the Western traveller threaded his almost pathless track amid the forests-mile after mile adding weariness to fatiguehour after hour, nay, whole days, wasting away without the cheer of a human voice-suddenly, when even hope had become faint, he descried in the shadows of evening the dingy form of a rude log cabin his ears were startled by well executed passages from pages of classic music, and the sweet cadences of perfect melody. From North to South, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, the charms and delights of music are discoverable.

But yet another extraordinary change has recently occurred; Mr. J. Pirsson, of New-York, presented for exhibition a piano at the World's Fair, made in this country, made by native hands; this piano was offered in competition with the science, and ages of experience, in the Old World; the pupils of a few years' growth vieing with pupils in the home of science! To you, sir, (Mr. Pirsson,) the Society gladly awards a Silver Medal, for the skill and talent whereby an instrument of American manufacture has drawn forth the honorable mention of the British Commissioners of the Crystal Palace.

And now we turn from thoughts, soothing and pleasurable, to an object-important, 'tis true-an object, foreign to the eye of most who are here present; an object, the sight of which carries

chill to the heart, beating back the warm blood; an object, which I have no ability to treat with the encomium due to its merits.

It has been said that the medical profession is "a melancholy attendance on misery;" and again, with more truth, that "the educated physician is ever great in liberality, dignified in sentiment, prompt in beneficence, ready to exert a lucrative art where no hope of gain exists." So far as our individual experience is a test, this declaration is doubtless true in all its force; and we may add, that the best sympathies of nature are his daily attendants, often performing an effective share of relief, where knowledge and art have ceased their aid. There is, however, another class of men alive to human woe, whose skill in mechanism entitles them to rank among the benefactors of their race, and, by the happy application of that skill, pointing to a position having a connecting link with those men (physicians and surgeons) whose habits lead pre-eminently to the indulgence of deep and comprehensive thought.

These remarks, thus connected, are brought to the mind by the award of a Prize Medal by the Royal Commissioners of the World's Fair to our countryman, Mr. B. F. Palmer, for an artificial limb— a. work of art, approaching, as I am informed, a symmetry of form equal to the models of ancient or modern sculpture; possessing, as a mechanism, a beauty of action and a finish hitherto unap proached, and, as an object of utility, to be appreciated as it de. serves only by those who need the aid of this ingenious work.

It is stated that four hundred persons have found ease, comfort, and power of exertion by this invention-a number so limited as to distinguish Mr. Palmer for the liberality and beneficence which have been described as among the happy attributes of edu cated men; the love of gain can hardly exist where the means of so great benefits are within so small a circle.

To you, Mr. Palmer, we have the satisfaction of presenting the Gold Medal of this Society as a testimony of your skill, and your

benevolence to man-for their successful application in alleviating misfortune, and restoring comfort and usefulness to suffering humanity.

Among objects not likely to attract the eye, there rested a pile of blocks in the American department, unattractive except to the man of science and the educated mechanic; they were specimens of American Woods-blocks of American forest trees, selected on the Pelham estate, in Ulster county, the highly cultivated residence of Mr. Robert Livingston Pell. It has been said that, of all the productions of the earth, wheat is the most important for the sustenance of man; and here we may add, that of all the vegetable productions, the various woods of the forest are no less important and essential for man's uses and purposes. The consumption of our forests exceeds probably the limit of all present estimates. Their value seems to be appreciated by few; yet they are well known to the naturalist, and to those who inhabit the regions of peculiar products. In all ages man has been pleased with the bright or strongly contrasted colored woods; the temple at Jerusalem was covered with cedar, the palaces of Europe are ornamented with strong-grained oak, the residences of our people are beautified with the maple, the walnut and the oak of our forests, as well as the mahogany, the sandal wood, the rosewood, and others of foreign climes. A single instance of the value of wood, for man's pleasure, will not fail to obtain attention; I allude to the sale of three logs of mahogany, some years ago, to the Messrs. Broadwoods, of London. These logs were fifteen feet long, by three feet thick-to possess which, the Broadwoods paid the sum of three thousand pounds sterling, or about fifteen thousand dollars. Well may the too rapid destruction of our forests demand, more careful consideration, to arrest the seeming wanton destruction and waste of millions in amount of valuable property; the day is approaching when the waste of wood may be felt as a national concern. The specimens presented by Mr. Pell were seen, éxamined, and appreciated by many persons from the European continent; and, as an illustration of the interest produced, it may be stated, that a gentleman of France, connected, I believe,

with the delegation from that country, came from the Exhibition to this country for the purpose of visiting Mr. Pell, and to purchase the collection of specimens then in the Palace. Others, however, had previously applied for them, and Mr. Pell had presented them to the Royal Commissioners. In these specimens of our forest woods we have another instance of characteristic utility, as applicable to the American department. To Mr. Pell are we indebted for opening more widely the door to a knowledge of our forests; and I feel, sir, (to Mr. Pell) much pleasure in presenting to you, on behalf of the New-York State Agricultural Society, their Silver Medal, as an additional token of merit to the honorable mention of your woods transmitted to you from the Royal Commissioners of the Industrial Exhibition.

In the departments of mechanics and machinery, our State has much cause for satisfaction. Ingenuity and expertness are almost proverbially connected with the American mechanic and artizan; and though but few specimens were sent from this country to the Great Fair, yet of and among the few was Lerow & Blodget's sewing machine-a machine which obtained one of the Prize Medals. The saving of labor effected by this ingenious mechanism may be comprehended, when it is known, that ten trowsers can be made or six coats may be sewed together, by this machine in one day, under the guidance of a young girl; and I am informed, that a factory in New-York turns out three hundred trowsers per day, well made in all respects. To you, gentlemen, (Lerow & Blodget,) the Society now presents its Golden Medal, congratulating you upon your successful ingenuity.

The accuracy and excellence of Tools, made in this State, have attracted admiration. All who attended the late Fair at Rochester will remember the display of edged and other tools by D. R. Barton & Co., and W. W. Bryan, of Rochester, and by L. & J. White, of Buffalo; but American ingenuity, in this department, seemed most conspicuous at the World's Fair, in the varied forms and excellence of Agricultural tools and implements. These were exhibited in an extensive variety by Messrs. A. B. Allen &

Co., of New-York, and their merit was acknowledged by an honorable mention of their valuable display. The perfect construction of agricultural tools comes closely home to the farmer's sympathy; for, though toil is not unpleasant, and his labors are ever beginning and never ending, he hails with joy every advance or improvement presented by the ingenious mechanic, in the hope that the high value of labor may not hereafter demand so large a share of his hard earned income. The neat and light, as well as accurately made tools and implements presented by the Messrs. Allen, did not fail to meet the approbation of many, and to obtain from the Judges of the Exhibition their honorable mention; in further commemoration of the event, I have the pleasure to present to them the Silver Medal of the New-York State Agricultural Society.

*

Among all the implements known and prized by the farmer, the Plow is the chief; it is the only implement by means of which a thorough farm tillage can be accomplished. Without it, the merchant's occupation would be of little comparative worth, the artist would sigh for patronage, science would languish, and man be compelled to forego much of the comfort, luxury, and enjoyment he now commands. But fifty years ago the plow, like other implements, was a rough, imperfect tool;† hard, indeed, was the plowman's task, at best his work was of little worth. Within twenty years this implement has been brought to great perfection; it is now moulded and shaped to meet our almost every need, to perfect tillage for every want. We may not doubt that further improvements will soon be made; yet, when we examine the plow made by Prouty & Mears, Boston, it seems bold to challenge improvement. The admirable work performed with this plow by American farmers has satisfied every wish, and the Prize Medal which it has secured in Great Britain presents the strongest proof of its estimation in that country.

• In this State, the farm laborer receives about 25 to 27 per cent. of the income of the farm. In Great Britain, he receives about 21 6-100 per cent. of the value of the products.

† Antique plows may be seen in the Agricultural Rooms.