Since the first appearance in "Steam" of the following "Requirements of
a Perfect Steam Boiler", the list has been copied many times either word
for word or clothed in different language and applied to some specific
type of boiler design or construction. In most cases, although full
compliance with one or more of the requirements was structurally
impossible, the reader was left to infer that the boiler under
consideration possessed all the desirable features. It is noteworthy
that this list of requirements, as prepared by George H. Babcock and
Stephen Wilcox, in 1875, represents the best practice of to-day.
Moreover, coupled with the boiler itself, which is used in the largest
and most important steam generating plants throughout the world, the
list forms a fitting monument to the foresight and genius of the
inventors.