EVOLUTION OF THE AUTOMOBILE. 415 



at C. The number of tubes depends upon the capacity of the boiler. 

 As the tubes are very thick, they can, without any danger of bursting, 

 be heated to so high a temperature that the water injected into them 

 is at once turned into steam. 



In Fig. 12 it will be seen that the engine is located under the body 

 of the carriage between the two axles, and that motion is imparted 

 to the hind wheels by means of chains and sprocket wheels. The 

 boiler is located at the back of the vehicle, the lower part projecting 

 some distance below the rear axle. A small smoke stack at the rear 

 of the body allows the gases of combustion to escape. Between the 

 front wheels, a compact condenser is located, and into this the steam 

 from the engine is exhausted. The condenser serves two purposes: 



Fin. 14. An American Steam Carriage of 1900. 



it recovers a portion of the water that would otherwise escape into the 

 air, and thus increases the distance the carriage can run without a new- 

 supply, and at the same time it lessens the noise produced by the ex- 

 haust, and also the volume of steam escaping into the atmosphere, 

 which in cold or rainy weather becomes plainly visible. 



Although we have been rather slow in this country in taking up the 

 automobile, inventors and manufacturers are now working at a pace 

 that will soon make up for lost time. We already have a number of 

 designs of steam carriages whose operation is highly creditable. Tig. 

 14 illustrates one of these. The design of the engine, boiler and other 

 mechanism can be well understood from Tig. 15, in which a portion 

 of the body is removed to expose the internal parts. 



