[30] The Institution of Engineers and Shipbuilders in Scotland was formed in 1865 through the amalgamation of two separate bodies—“The Institution of Engineers in Scotland” and “The Scottish Shipbuilders’ Association.” The former of these was founded in 1857 and the latter in 1860, the same year in which “The Institution of Naval Architects” was established. The membership of the Institution at the present time numbers nearly seven hundred, and comprises honorary members, members, associates, and graduates: the latter being a special section of the Institution, designed to embrace students or apprentices in the profession, and fulfilling a very useful end. The various offices have long been filled by gentlemen more or less actively engaged in the practice of shipbuilding or of engineering on the Clyde, and the proceedings have assumed, on this account alone, a richer practical interest. Scientific subjects have also received their share of attention, and of the members taking the lead in this connection the names of Mr J. G. Lawrie and Mr Robert Mansel are worthy of special mention. Along with Mr Robert Duncan and Mr Lawrance Hill, these gentlemen have, from the foundation of the Institution, taken a specially warm interest in its prosperity, and have contributed not a little thereto by the numerous valuable papers they have brought before its meetings. The secretary of the Institution is Mr W. J. Millar, C.E., himself the author of numerous papers, and the editor of the Transactions. [31] For interesting and reliable information on this head, as well as on other matters dealt with in this and the preceding chapter, see Sir E. J. Reed’s excellent treatise on “Shipbuilding in Iron and Steel.” [32] This method of graphically representing tonnage output was applied for the first time by the author to the Clyde district from the figures supplied by the _Glasgow Herald_ for each of the years since 1860, and appeared, with much of the descriptive matter now given, in the issue of that journal for March 4th of the present year. [33] The following fragmentary returns have, through the kindness of a friend engaged in shipbuilding on the Tyne, been forwarded while those sheets were in the press. They have been gathered from occasional records in the local press, supplemented by personal knowledge, but may only be taken as approximate:— Year. | No. of Vessels. | Tons. | | 1864 | 97 | 49,820 1865 | 123 | 77,500 1866 | 110 | 51,800 1867 | 81 | 34,080 1868 | 86 | 45,390 1869 | — | —— 1870 | 95 | 86,420 1871 | — | ——