but requires the interposition of mechanism, 11;
Elastic force of, recognised by the ancients only in vague
and general terms, 14;
The power of, formerly made to minister to the objects of
superstition, mentioned by Arago, 15;
Anecdote showing the knowledge which the ancients had of the
mechanical force of, 15;
The discovery of the condensation of, by Papin, 45;
Mechanical power obtained from the direct pressure of the
elastic force of, suggested by De Caus and Lord Worcester,
73;
Latent heat of, 107;
The mechanical force of considered, 115;
Watt's early experiments on, 87;
Discovery of the expansive action of, 157;
Expansive action of stated by Watt in a letter to Dr. Small,
157;
Its principle explained, 158;
Mechanical effect resulting from it, 161;
Properties of, 168;
Common and super-heated steam, 168;
Pressure and temperature of, 171;
Relation between the temperatures of common steam and its
pressure and density, 172;
Effects of the expansion of common steam, 173;
Mechanical effects of, 173;
Methods of equalising the varying force of expanding steam,
174;
Method of producing a vacuum by the condensation of,
discovered by Papin, 178;
Applied to move machinery, 179;
Steam guage, 270;
Heating by steam brought forward by Watt, 303;
A machine for drying linen by, invented by Watt, 303;
Mode of escape of, from the engines on the Liverpool road,
429.
Steam case or jacket, invented by Watt, 124.
Steam engine, a subject of popular interest, 3;
The effects which it has produced upon the well-being of the
human race considered, 4;
Presents peculiar claims upon the attention of the people of
Great Britain, 5;
The exclusive offspring of British genius, 5;
The virtues and powers which it has conferred upon coals, 6;
Water the means of calling these powers into activity, 6;
Used in the drainage of Cornish mines, 7;
Comparison of its power with human labour, 8;
Investigation of the origin of, 10;
A combination of a great variety of contrivances and the
production of several inventions, 12;
Before the discoveries of James Watt was of extremely
limited power, 12;
Invention of, ascribed to the Marquis of Worcester, 23;
Account of Savery's, 49;
Farey quoted, 58;
Improvements made by Desaguliers, 58;
Applied to the drainage of mines, 59;
Humphrey Potter's contrivance, 72;
Advantages of the atmospheric engine over that of Savery, 73;
Progress of the atmospheric engine, 75;
Description of Papin's engine, 62;
Smeaton's improvements, 76;
First experiments of Watt and subsequent improvements, 83;
Watt's experiments on the force of steam at high pressure,
83;
Watt discovers the great defects of the atmospheric engine,
85;
Waste of heat in atmospheric engine, 89;
Dr. Black's theory of latent heat, 93;
Description of Watt's experimental engine at Kinneal, 131;
Description of his single-acting engine, 133;
Disadvantages of the atmospheric compared with the old
engine, 150;
Expedients to force the atmospheric engines into use, 152;
Watt's exertions to improve the manufacture of, at Soho, 155;
Efficiency of fuel in the new engines, 156;
Hornblower's engine, 175;
Woolf's engine, 176;
Watt endeavours to bring to perfection the application of,
to the drainage of mines, 178;
Papin's projected application of, 178;
Savery proposed to apply his steam engine as a prime mover
for all sorts of machinery, 180;
Jonathan Hull's application of, to water-wheels, 180;
Steam engine used for driving water wheels, 182;
First attempt of this kind made by Oxley, 182;
Stewart's application of, to mill work, 182;
Wasbrough's application of the fly-wheel and crank, 183;
Reasons why Watt's single-acting engine was not adapted to
produce continuous uniform motion of rotation, 184;
Watt's second patent, 186;
Valves of double-acting engine, 189;
Condensing jet, 191;
Methods of connecting the piston-rod and beam in the double-
acting engine, 193;
Rack and sector, 194;
Parallel motion, 195;
Connecting rod and crank, 202;
Fly-wheel, 205;
Throttle-valve, 207;
Adaptation of the governor, 209;
Double-acting engine considered as a whole, 216;
Process of its operation investigated, 217;
The eccentric, 225;
Cocks and valves, 227;
Single clack-valve, 227;
Double clack-valve, 228;
Conical steam-valves, 228;
Slide-valves, 229;
Murray's slide-valve, 229;
D valve, 230;
Seaward's slides, 235;
Single cock, 238;
Four-way cock, 239;
Pistons, 242;
Gross effect and useful effect of engines, 285;
Power and duty of, 287;
Horse power of, 288;
The means whereby mechanical power is expended in working
the engines enumerated, 290;
Common rules followed by engine makers, 292;
Duty of engines, 294;
Duty distinguished from power, 295;
Proportion of stroke to diameter of cylinder, 295;
Cornish system of inspection, 297;
Improvement of the Cornish engines, 298;
Historical detail of the duty of Cornish engines, 299;
High-pressure engines, 321;
Leupold's engine described, 323;
Construction of the first high-pressure engine by Messrs.
Trevethick and Vivian, 324;
First application of the steam engine to propel carriages
on railroads, 328;
Computation of how much corn could be saved by the
substitution of steam engines for horse power, 332;
Marine engines, form and arrangement of, 441;
Difference between marine and land engines, 443;
Mr. Howard's patent engine described, 464;
Humphrey's engine described, 470.
Steam navigation to India, 483;
First established in America, 487;
Circumstances which led to it, 488;
Attempts of Fitch and Rumsey to apply the single-acting
engine to the propulsion of vessels, 489;
Stevens of Hoboken commences experiments in, 489;
Experiments of Livingstone and Fulton, 489;
Fulton's first boat, 490;
The Hudson navigated by steam, 491;
Extension and improvement of river navigation, 492;
American steamers, 494;
Difference between them and European steamers, 494;
Steamers on the Hudson, 494;
Sea-going American steamers, 496;
Speed attained by American steamers, 497;
Lake steamers, 499;
Steam-boats on the Mississippi, 500.
Steam tugs, 503.
Steep inclinations, method of surmounting, 415.
Stephenson, his locomotive engine at Killingworth, 339;
Defect of, 341;
Constructed the driving wheels without flanges, 383.
Stevens, of Hoboken, commences experiments on steam navigation,
489.
Stewart, his application of the steam engine to mill work, 182.
Stoking, process of, 462.
Stuffing-box, contrivance of, 147.
Sun and planet wheels, method of producing rotatory motion,
187.
Thermometers, the process of filling described, 44;
Explanation of the principle of, 98;
Construction of mercurial thermometer, 98;
Method of graduating, 99.
Thermometer gauge, 270.
Throttle-valve, description of, 207.
Tredgold, his remark relative to Newcomen's engine, 73.
Trevethick and Vivian's engine described, 325.
Vacuum, force obtained by a, 43;
The pump an illustration of this, 43.
Valves of double-acting engine, 189.
Wasbrough, his application of the fly-wheel and crank, 183.
Water, a pint of, the mechanical force produced by its
evaporation, 6;
The alternate decomposition and recomposition of, by
magnetism and electricity, analogous to vaporisation and
condensation, 8;
The fixed temperature which it assumes in boiling subject to
variation, 108;
Experiments to illustrate this, 109;
Table to show the temperature at which it will boil under
different pressures of the atmosphere, 113;
Mechanical force of a cubic inch of, converted into steam,
118;
Discovery of the composition of, 303;
The merit of this discovery shared between Cavendish,
Lavoisier, and Watt, 305;
Latent heat of, 101;
Conversion of ice into, 103.
Water tank, 404.
Water-wheels, steam engine used for turning, 182.
Watt (James), birth of, 77;
His infancy, 78;
Anecdotes respecting, 78;
His boyhood, 79;
Goes to London, 80;
Returns to Glasgow, 80;
Appointed mathematical instrument-maker to the university,
81;
Adam Smith one of his earliest friends and patrons, 81;
Also Black and Robert Simson, 81;
Extract from an unpublished manuscript of Robison respecting
the character of, 82;
His first experiments on steam, 83;
Observes defects of atmospheric engine, 84;
His first attempt to improve it, by using a wooden instead
of an iron cylinder, 85;
His method to ascertain the temperatures at which water would
boil under pressures less than that of the atmosphere, 86;
His early experiments on steam, 87;
His notice of the waste of heat in atmospheric engines, 89;
His experiments to determine the extent to which water
enlarged its volume when it passed into steam, 90;
Discovers the latent heat of steam, 91;
Learns the theory of latent heat, 93;
His letter to Dr. Brewster, explaining the circumstances
which led to the error that a large share of the merit of
his discoveries were due to Black, 93;
Finds that condensation in the cylinder is incompatible with
a due economy of fuel, 120;
Conceives the notion of condensing out of the cylinder, 120;
Discovers separate condensation, 121;
Invents the air-pump, 122;
Substitutes steam pressure for atmospheric pressure, 123;
Invents the steam case or jacket, 124;
His first experiments to realise these inventions, 125;
His experimental apparatus, 126;
Difficulties of bringing the improved engines into use, 128;
Practises as a civil engineer, 129;
Makes a survey of the river Clyde, 129;
His partnership with Dr. Roebuck, 130;
His first patent, 130;
Description of his experimental engine at Kinneal, 131;
Removes to Soho, 131;
Abstract of the act of parliament for the extension of his
patent, 132;
Description of his single-acting engine, 133-144;
His condenser worked by an injection, 146;
Objections attending condensation by surface, 146;
Improvements in construction of piston, 147;
Effected by a contrivance called a stuffing-box, 147;
Method of packing, 148;
Improved methods of boring the cylinder, 149;
His letter to Smeaton on this subject, 149;
Used black-lead dust for the purpose of lubrication, 149;
This found to wear the cylinder, 149;
Disadvantages of the atmospheric compared with the old
engines, 150;
Greatly increased economy of fuel, 151;
Expedients to force the atmospheric engines into use, 152;
His correspondence with Boulton, 153;
His correspondence with Smeaton, 154;
Exertions to improve the manufacture of engines at Soho, 155;
Efficiency of fuel in the new engines, 156;
Endeavours to bring to perfection the application of the
steam engine to the drainage of mines, 178;
The reasons why his single-acting engine was not adapted to
produce continuous uniform motion of rotation, 184;
His notes upon Dr. Robison's article on the steam engine,
184;
His second patent, 186;
His third patent, 189;
His application of the fly-wheel, 205;
His application of the throttle-valve, 207;
His adaptation of the governor, 209;
His double-acting engine considered as a whole, 216;
Investigation of the process of its operation, 217;
Eccentric, 225;
Cocks and valves, 227;
Single clack-valve, 227;
Double clack-valve, 228;
Conical steam-valve, 228;
Slide-valves, 229;
The waggon boiler adopted by him, 225;
Invents the indicator, 274;
The counter contrived by him, 278;
The Lunar Society in which Watt and Boulton were leading
members, 302;
Invents the copying press, 302;
His friends and associates at Birmingham, 302;
Method of heating by steam brought forward by him, 303;
His invention of a machine for drying linen by steam, 303;
His share in the discovery of the composition of water, 303;
His letter to Priestley on this subject, 307;
Anecdote of his inventive genius, 309;
Introduces the use of chlorine in bleaching, 310;
One of the founders of the Pneumatic institution at Clifton,
310;
His first marriage, 310;
Private life of, 311;
Death of his first wife, 311;
His second marriage, 311;
He retires from business, 311;
Death of his younger son, 311;
Extracts from his letters, 312;
His death, 313;
Character of, by Lord Brougham, 313;
By Sir Walter Scott, 314;
By Lord Jeffrey, 315;
Occupation of his old age, 318;
Invention of machine for copying sculpture, 318;
His last days, 318;
Monuments, 319;
Inscription on the monument in Westminster Abbey from the
pen of Lord Brougham, 319;
His application of tubular condensers, 457;
His expedient for coating boilers with felt, 463.
Wilkinson, his machine for accurately boring the insides of
cylinders, 149.
Williams's method of consuming the unburned gases which escape
from the grate, and are carried through the flues, 260.
Woolf's engine, 176;
Woolf's piston, 243.
[Illustration: RICHMOND BRIDGE.]
LONDON:
Printed by A. SPOTTISWOODE,
New-Street-Square.
* * * * *
Transcriber's endnote:
Original spelling and grammar has mostly been retained. For
example, the forms "Cyclopoedia", "cyclopædia", "Encyclopædia",
"Encyclopoedia", "guage", and "gauge" are all retained. Figures
were moved from within paragraphs to between paragraphs.
Footnotes were re-indexed and moved to the ends of chapters.
An entry for the INDEX was inserted into the Table of Contents.
In the Table of Contents, changed "MM. Dulong and Arrago" to "MM
Dulong and Arago". Also "Blinkinsop" to "Blinkensop". Also
"Wasborough's" to "Wasbrough's".
Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are all in one image. Two tubes in Fig. 4
were incorrectly labeled T'; one of these has been crossed out
and changed to T. Both tubes in Fig. 6 were incorrectly
labeled G. One of these was crossed out and replaced by G'.
Note also that Figs. 4, 5, 6 are repeated in the text on
different pages; this feature has been retained.
Page 10: "it s already" to "it is already".
Page 43: "Thu if heat" changed to "Thus if heat".
Page 45: "had a diameter of only one square foot" changed to
"had a diameter of only one foot".
Page 47: "immedate" to "immediate".
Page 51: "a a level" to "a level". Also, comma removed from "A
gauge, pipe is inserted".
Page 53: "proportionably" to "proportionally".
Page 79: A paragraph beginning "He was not fourteen" contains three
double quotation marks; this is presumably an error. Possibly there
should be two double quotation marks and two single quotation
marks.
Page 80: "S'. Gravesande" is retained, although this probably
refers to a person known as "'s Gravesande".
Page 103: "gases n general" to "gases in general".
Page 122: comma removed from "process may, be continued".
Page 123: "two thin pipes F G of tin" to "two thin pipes F, G
of tin".
Page 172: "empyrical" to "empirical".
Page 187, Fig. 32.: The text refers to "end I of the
connecting rod", but this was labeled L on the Figure. This L
has been crossed out and replaced by I.
Page 285: In "surrounding the boiler with iron-conducting
substances", changed "iron-" to "non-".
Page 308: "exeitement" to "excitement".
Page 362: "acomplish" to "accomplish".
There were several extended quotations, for example beginning on
page 312, in which each line began with a quotation mark, with
ending quotation marks at the end of each paragraph. In this
edition, these passages have been marked by indentation, and all
but the first and last quotation marks from each paragraph were
removed.
Page 366: Figs. 97-104 appeared originally between pages 385
and 399, as full-page prints. Numerically, however, they
belong between Figs. 96 and 105--therefore between pages
366 and 369. Therefore, they have been moved to a location
between two paragraphs on page 367.
Page 368: "rivetted" to "riveted".
Page 419: "TREVITHECK'S INVENTION" changed to "TREVETHICK'S
INVENTION", in the chapter heading. However, the references to
Trevethick occur in a previous chapter, around page 324.
Page 468: Period added to end sentence "[...] piston is at the
bottom of its stroke".
Page 490: Period added to end sentence "[...] therefore one
eighth of its capacity".
Pages 494, 497: large data tables were split into two pieces
each.
Page 505: The logarithm originally given as log x =
"[=1]·82340688193", where "[=1]" represents a numeral one with
a horizontal line over it, is herein changed to log x =
"0·82340688193 - 1", as that is the meaning of this convention.
Page 513 "formulæ are hyberbolic" to "formulæ are hyperbolic".
In the Appendix, pp 505-522, mathematical variables such as
"a", "p", "t", etc. were originally italicized. In these text
file versions, italicized variables have been removed from this
section of the book. This rule has two unfortunate exceptions:
E, _E_, E', and _E'_ on pp 512-515 are different variables, and
have been retained. Italics have been removed from tables
throughout the work.
The tables on page 494 and 497 were divided into two parts,
better to fit the width constraints of this format. Most of the
tables will not look good unless viewed with a monospace font,
such as Courier New or Lucida Console.