BY P. L. WESTON. B.BC, B.E. XIX.- 



Returning now to our original theme, and summing 

 up, the internal combustion engine has already become a 

 factor of great economic importance in our national 

 life, and before long it promises to become the chief 

 agency for turning the useful energy of fuel to account 

 unless the dream of the scientist of turning the energy 

 of fuel direct into electricity without first producing 

 mechanical work is realised. 



With regard to general design of internal combustion 

 engines, the present standard design of reciprocating en- 

 gine is not likely to be drastically altered unless the pre- 

 sent fundamental principles of operation are abandoned, 

 since its performance very closely approaches in effi- 

 ciency what is theoretically possible under the circum- 

 stances. The possibility of the evolution of a gas tur- 

 bine is often mentioned, but when the problem is care- 

 fully examined it does not look very promising. There 

 is, however, a special form of engine for pumping pur- 

 poses which is most interesting, and bears little resem- 

 blance to the ordinary form of engine. This is the 

 Humphrey gas pump, in which there is no piston in the 

 ordinary sense of the word, its place being taken by the 

 fluid to be pumped, which is subjected directly to the 

 force of the explosion in a closed chamber. In this way 

 there is a practical elimination of working parts, and as 

 the apparatus takes the place of both an engine and a 

 pump, a very high efficiency is possible, and these plants 

 have been successfully used for very large installations. 



In conclusion, I may remark that fire has been the 

 servant of man since the dim days of our prehistoric 

 ancestors, and its uses have been multiplied through the 

 ages, contributing in no small degree to the advancement 

 of civilisation. A new era was heralded when mankind 

 learned how to harness steam, the product of the two 

 opposing elements, fire and water, and extract its latent 

 energy by the steam engine. Now another era has been 

 instituted by the subjection of our willing slave in a 

 more direct manner in the internal combustion engine. 



In the one case we imprison him within the walls of 

 a furnace made of refractory materials, but now we have^ 



