318 REPORT—1852. 
on the upright shaft, B, which conveys away the power to the machinery 
to be driven. The water-wheel occupies the central part of the upper di- 
vision of a strong cast-iron case, CC; and the part occupied by the wheel 
is called the wheel-chamber. DD is the lower division of the case, and is 
called the supply chamber. It receives the water directly from the supply 
pipe, of which the lower extremity is shown at E, and delivers it into the 
outer part of the upper division, by four large openings, F, in the parti- 
tion between the two divisions. The outer part of the upper division is 
called the guide-blade chamber, from its containing four guide-blades, G, 
which direct the water tangentially into the wheel-chamber. Immediately 
after being injected into the wheel-chamber the water is received by the 
curved radiating passages of the wheel, which are partly seen in figure 2, at 
a place where both the cover of the wheel-chamber and the upper plate of 
the wheel are broken away for the purpose of exposing the interior to view, 
The water, on reaching the inner ends of these curved passages, having 
already done its work, is allowed to make its exit by two large central orifices, 
shown distinctly on the figures at the letters L,L; the one leading upwards 
and the other downwards. It then simply flows quietly away ; for, the vortex 
being submerged under the surface of the water in the tail race, the water 
on being discharged wastes no part of the fall by a further descent. At the 
central orifices, close joints between the case and the wheel, to prevent the 
escape of water otherwise than through the wheel itself, are made by means 
of two annular pieces, L, L, called joint-rings, fitting to the central orifices of 
the case, and capable of being adjusted, by means of stnds and nuts, so as to 
come close to the wheel without impeding its motion by friction, The four 
openings, H, H, Plates 1 and 2, through which the water flows into the wheel- 
chamber, each situated between the point or edge of one guide-blade and the 
middle of the next, determine, by tneir width, the quantity of water admitted, 
and consequently the power of the wheel. To render this power capable of 
being varied at pleasure, the guide-blades are made moveable round gudgeons 
or centres near their points; and a spindle, K, is connected with the guide- 
blades by means of links, cranks, &c. (see the Plates) in such a way that, 
when the spindle is moved, the four entrance orifices are all enlarged or con- 
tracted alike. This spindle, K, for working the guide-blades is itself worked 
by a handle in a convenient position in the mill; and the motion is commu 
nicated trom the handle through the medium of a worm and sector, which 
not only serve to multiply the force of the man’s hand, but also to prevent 
the guide-blades from being liable to the accident of slapping suddenly shut 
from the force of the water constantly pressing them inwards. The gudgeons 
of the guide-blades, seen in fig. 2 as small circles, are sunk in sockets in the 
floor and roof of the guide-blade chamber ; and so they do not in any way 
obstruct the flow of the water. 
M, in Plate 1, is the pivot-box of the upright shaft. It contains, fixed 
within it, an inverted brass cup, shown distinctly on the figure; and the cup 
revolves on an upright pin, or pivot, with a steel top. The pin is held sta- 
tionary in a bridge, N, which is itself attached to the bottom of the vortex- 
case. For adjusting the pin as to height, a little cross bridge, O, is made to 
bear it up, and is capable of being raised or lowered by screws and nuts 
shown distinctly on the figure. Also, for preventing the pin from gradually 
becoming loose in its socket in the large bridge, two pinching-screws are 
required, of which one is to be seen in the figure. A small pipe, fixed at its 
lower end into the centre of the inverted brass cup, and sunk in an upright 
groove in the vortex-shaft (see the Plates), affords the means of supplying 
oil to the rubbing surfaces, over which the oil is spread by a radial groove in 

