GASOLINE A UTOMOBILES. 



593 



GASOLINE AUTOMOBILES. 



By WILLIAM BAXTER, Jr. 



TO understand the operation of a gasoline vehicle it is necessary 

 to be somewhat familiar with the principle on which gasoline 

 motors act. Briefly stated, it is as follows: The gasoline is converted 

 into a vapor, and in this state is mixed with a sufficient amount of air 

 to cause it to ignite when heated to a proper temperature. This mix- 

 ture of air and vapor is admitted into a cylinder in which a piston 

 moves freely, this part being substantially the same as in a steam en- 

 gine. By means of an electric spark or a hot tube, the mixture is 

 ignited, burning so violently as to expand the products of the combus- 



l. Gasoline Motor. 



tion with such rapidity as virtually to become an explosion. The force 

 of this explosion pushes the piston to the further end of the cylinder, 

 and by means of a connecting rod and a crank this movement imparts 

 a rotary motion to a shaft. 



The entire operation is made perfectly clear by the aid of Fig. 1, 



VOL. LVII.— 38 



