SECTION OF HTEAM TliAN!-;i'ORTATION. 131 



that in the winter of 17(}.> ;iimI 1704 J:iuiies Watt, who was then twenty- 

 seven years old, and was a mathematical instrnmeut maker and general 

 mechanician for this University, became interested in steam through a 

 toy model of Newcomen's engine, which had been ])laced in his hands 

 for repairs. This ])eriod is described by an eminent writer as "the era 

 of all other the most eventful in the history of the steam-engine."* 



This model is still preserved in the Hunterian Museum, connected 

 with the University, and the knowledge of the fact that I ha\'e held it 

 in my hands and moved the valves that Watt repaired will always be 

 held as the most precious remembrance of my tour abroad. 



It is rather a curious coincidence that the walls of the same institu- 

 tion that witnessed Watt's successful experiments with steam a century 

 and a quarter ago should now contain the work-shop and laboratory of 

 one of the most distinguished electricians of the age, who has labored so 

 successfully in investigating and utilizing the new power which bids 

 fair to supersede the inventions w4iich immortalized that great inventor. 



watt's monument. 



A few feet from the Ninvcoinen model stands a wliite marble statue 

 of the great inventor in a sitting posture, sculptured by Cliantrey in 181^5. 

 The inscription ou the pedestal reads — 



Thin Statue of 



James Watt, 



Follow of tlic Royal Societies 



ol" London and Edinburgh, 



and Member of the Institute of France, 



is presented by his son 



to the University of Glasgow 



in gratitude for the encouragemeut 



allordod by its Professoi-s 



to the Scientific pursuits 



of his father's early life. 



In Greenock, Scotland, is a small museum which contains a number 

 of letters writttui by Watt in regard to his inventions, a few models and 

 relics, besides a stiitue by Chautrey, similar to the one at the Hunterian 

 Museum at Glasgow, and a library containing a number of valuable 

 books. 



The curator has kindly promised to send the National Museum a 

 small map of the town, showing the location of Watt's birthplace, and 

 a photograph of the house in which he first saw the light. 



Kelvin Grove Museum. — In the Kelvin Grove Museum, (Hasgow, is a 

 most interesting pyramid of models of the liuHs of the early steam- 

 boats: the Vulcan (first iron boat), 1810; tlie Comet (lirst successful 



*Tht) Steani-ongiue aijd its luveutors, by Robert L. Galloway, page J-T9. 



