$72 On the Ufe of Steam as a Vehicle for eonvtpng Ifeat, 



neiglibour, who Is a dyer by profeffion, and who, at fiirfl;, was ftrongly prejudiced againft 

 thefe innovations, has lately adopted thena, and is now convinced that they are real im«> 

 provements. Mr. Gott aflured me that he had no doubt but that they would be adopted 

 by every dyer in Great Britain in the courfe of a very few years. 



The dyeing houfe of Meflrs. Gott and Co. which is fituated on the ground floor of the 

 principal building of the manufa£lory, is very fpacious, and contains a great number of 

 coppers of different fizes; and as thefe veflels, fome of which are very large,- are diftri- 

 buted about promifcuoufly, and apparently without any order in their arrangement, in two 

 fpacious rooms, each copper appearing to be infulated, and to have no connexion whatever 

 with the others, all of them together form a very fingular appearance. The rooms are 

 paved with flat flones, and the brims of all the coppers, great and fmall, are placed at the 

 fame height, about three feet, above the pavement : fome of thefe coppers contain upwards 

 of 1 800 gallons ; and they are all heated by fteam from one fteam boiler, which is fituated 

 in a corner of one of the rooms. 



The horizontal tubes which ferve to conduft the fteam from the boiler to the coppers 

 are fufpended juft below the cielings of the rooms: they are made, fome of lead, and fome 

 of caft iron; and are from four to five inches in diameter; but when I fa w them, they 

 were naked, or without any coveriftg to confine the heat. On my obferving to Mr. Gott 

 that coverings for them would be ufeful, he told me that it was intended that they fliould 

 be covered, and that coverings would be provided for them. 



The \tx\\cd\J}eam tubes, by which the fteam pafles down from the horizon tal^^a»»«iw« 

 duclors into the coppers, are all conftru£ted of lead, and are from \ of an inch to 2 j inches 

 in diameter; being made larger or fmaller according to the fizes of the coppers to which 

 they belong. Thefe fteam tubes all pafs down on the outjtdes of their coppers ; and enter 

 them horizontally at the level of their bottoms. Each copper is furniflied with a brafs cock, 

 for letting off its contents ; and it is filled with water from a ciftern at a diftance, which is 

 brought to it by a leaden pipe. The coppers are all furrounded by thin circular brick 

 walls, which ferve not only to fupport the coppers, but alfo to confine the heat. 



The rapidity with which thefe coppers may be heated, by means of fteam, is truly afto. 

 nifliing. Mr. Gott affured me that one of the largeft of them, containing upwards of 1800 

 gallons, when filled with cold water from the ciftern, requires no more than half an hour 

 to heat it till it a£lually boils ! — By the greateft fire that could be made under fuch a copper, 

 with coals, it would hardly be pofllble to make it boil in lefs than hour. 



It is eafy to perceive that the favitig of time which will refult from the adoption of this 

 new mode of applying heat will be very great ; — and it is likewife evident that it may be 

 increafed, almoft without limitation, merely by augmenting the diameter of the fteam tube : 

 Care muft, however, be taken that the boiler be fufliciently large to furnifti the quantities 

 of fteam required. T\\e. fnvitig cf fuel viiW zMo be very confiderable : Mr. Gott informed 

 rne that, from the bcft calculation he had been able to make, it would amount to near two 

 thirds of the quantity formerly expended, when each copper was heated by a feparate fire. 



But 



