XJI8 History of Mechanical Inventions and 



of their power of production. The same remark may be made 

 in regard to sinking, independent of which, the expence and 

 difficulty attending the operation render it little better than 

 submitting to the evil itself. 



That so obvious a remedy as that of filling a ship with steam, 

 should, in these times, when its employment may be said to be 

 almost universal, have been so long unthought of, is not a little 

 remarkable, particularly when the practice of smoking ships, 

 for the purpose of destroying rats and other vermin, has long 

 been adopted, and with partial success. The destruction caus- 

 ed by rats on board ship is only second to that effected by the 

 white ants. Instances have been known of their eating through 

 a vessel's bottom and decks ; while their ravages on the stores, 

 provisions, and cargo are almost incredible. Nor are these 

 the only vermin with which ships in this country are infest- 

 ed. The cockroach and black ant, centipede, &c. if not de- 

 structive of the vessel itself, are so of the comfort of every 

 person on board. The first find their way more or less on 

 board every ship in India ; the second prevail at times to an 

 extent almost surpassing belief, on vessels trading to the east- 

 ward, which supply themselves with wood in the Straits. The 

 fipplication of steam to the destruction of these latter animals 

 is of itself an advantage almost incalculable. It is obvious, 

 that nothing but the most searching, and, at the same time, 

 powerful agent, could extirpate an animal like the common 

 ant. The experiment was first tried in England, at the sug- 

 gestion of Captain Ford, late in command of the ship Provi- 

 dence in this port, on a ship belonging to him, and we under- 

 stand with success. We believe that the steam was not 

 applied to the utmost extent of its power on that occasion. It 

 has, however, since, on the representation made by Captain 

 Ford of the success of the experiment in England, been ap- 

 plied to perhaps as great an extent as it could be with safety ; 

 and certainly to sufiicient extent for all practical purposes, with 

 the most complete success : since that experiment too it has 

 been applied on several other occasions. 



The first trial in this country was on the Honourable Com- 

 pany's ship Investigator. The experiment was conducted by 

 Captain Forbes, of the Bengal Engineers, and Mr Kyd, the 

 Honourable Company's Master Builder, and, as might be ex- 



