﻿552 
  ANNUAL 
  REPORT 
  SMITHSONIAN 
  INSTITUTION, 
  192 
  9 
  

  

  less 
  argument 
  about 
  it, 
  I 
  have 
  one 
  of 
  some 
  size 
  under 
  hand, 
  and 
  am 
  

   resolved 
  to 
  try 
  if 
  God 
  will 
  work 
  a 
  miracle 
  in 
  favor 
  of 
  these 
  carriages. 
  

   I 
  shall 
  in 
  some 
  future 
  letter 
  send 
  you 
  the 
  words 
  of 
  my 
  specification 
  

   on 
  that 
  subject. 
  In 
  the 
  meantime 
  I 
  wish 
  William 
  could 
  be 
  brought 
  

   to 
  do 
  as 
  we 
  do, 
  to 
  mind 
  the 
  business 
  in 
  hand, 
  and 
  let 
  such 
  as 
  Syming- 
  

   ton 
  and 
  Sadler 
  throw 
  away 
  their 
  time 
  and 
  money 
  hunting 
  shadows." 
  

   These 
  remonstrances 
  seem 
  to 
  have 
  had 
  the 
  desired 
  effect 
  of 
  bringing 
  

   Murdock 
  to 
  abandon 
  his 
  ideas, 
  but 
  for 
  over 
  a 
  hundred 
  years 
  there- 
  

   after, 
  first 
  in 
  Europe 
  and 
  later 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  inventors 
  

   designed 
  and 
  built 
  steam 
  carriages, 
  wagons, 
  and 
  coaches. 
  Each 
  

   succeeding 
  decade 
  showed 
  improvements 
  in 
  this 
  mode 
  of 
  locomotion 
  

   over 
  the 
  preceding 
  one 
  until 
  it 
  seemed 
  a 
  foregone 
  conclusion 
  that 
  

   steam 
  would 
  displace 
  the 
  horse 
  as 
  the 
  motive 
  power 
  on 
  highwa3's. 
  

  

  Meanwhile, 
  however, 
  a 
  number 
  of 
  other 
  inventors 
  were 
  quietl}'" 
  

   experimenting 
  with 
  another 
  form 
  of 
  power 
  — 
  exploding 
  gases 
  in 
  an 
  

   engine 
  cylinder. 
  Way 
  back 
  in 
  1678 
  the 
  Dutch 
  astronomer, 
  Huygens, 
  

   had 
  attempted 
  this, 
  using 
  gunpowder, 
  and 
  in 
  1794 
  an 
  English 
  inven- 
  

   tor, 
  R. 
  Street, 
  had 
  obtained 
  a 
  patent 
  on 
  an 
  explosive 
  engine 
  using 
  

   gases 
  distilled 
  from 
  turpentine. 
  Five 
  years 
  later 
  a 
  French 
  mechanic, 
  

   Le 
  Bon, 
  invented 
  a 
  similar 
  engine 
  using 
  street-lighting 
  gas 
  and 
  an 
  

   electric 
  spark 
  to 
  ignite 
  it. 
  After 
  that 
  an 
  increasing 
  number 
  of 
  indi- 
  

   viduals 
  took 
  up 
  the 
  task 
  of 
  devising 
  a 
  practical 
  engine 
  of 
  this 
  type. 
  

   In 
  the 
  United 
  States, 
  Stuart 
  Perry, 
  of 
  New 
  York, 
  patented 
  his 
  ideas 
  

   of 
  such 
  engines 
  between 
  1844 
  and 
  1846. 
  They 
  included 
  both 
  the 
  air 
  

   and 
  water 
  cooled 
  types 
  and 
  used 
  turpentine 
  gases 
  as 
  fuel, 
  Alfred 
  

   Drake, 
  a 
  Philadelphia 
  physician, 
  patented 
  an 
  "ignition-gas 
  engine" 
  

   in 
  1855, 
  exhibited 
  a 
  full-sized 
  one 
  at 
  the 
  American 
  Institute 
  Fair 
  in 
  

   New 
  York 
  that 
  year, 
  and 
  even 
  advertised 
  engines 
  for 
  sale. 
  It 
  is 
  not 
  

   known 
  whether 
  any 
  of 
  these 
  were 
  actually 
  ordered 
  or 
  put 
  into 
  service. 
  

  

  The 
  succeeding 
  decade 
  saw 
  even 
  more 
  rapid 
  progress. 
  In 
  1S60 
  

   Jean 
  Joseph 
  E. 
  Lenoir 
  in 
  France 
  designed, 
  patented, 
  and 
  built 
  the 
  

   first 
  practical 
  gas 
  engine, 
  for 
  which 
  he 
  was 
  decorated 
  by 
  the 
  Academy 
  

   of 
  Sciences. 
  That 
  invention 
  set 
  on 
  foot 
  in 
  Europe 
  a 
  prosperous 
  

   industry 
  building 
  gas 
  engines. 
  They 
  burned 
  street 
  gas 
  and 
  took 
  

   the 
  place 
  of 
  stationary 
  steam 
  engines. 
  Little 
  or 
  no 
  thought 
  was 
  given 
  

   to 
  the 
  possibility 
  of 
  adapting 
  the 
  new 
  gas 
  engines 
  to 
  road 
  vehicles. 
  

   But 
  with 
  the 
  unexpected 
  discovery 
  in 
  the 
  United 
  States 
  of 
  an 
  ample 
  

   quantity 
  of 
  a 
  preferable 
  fuel, 
  the 
  new 
  industry 
  was 
  brought 
  up 
  short, 
  

   changed 
  direction, 
  and 
  headed 
  for 
  the 
  conquest 
  of 
  the 
  open 
  road. 
  

   Col. 
  Edwin 
  L. 
  Drake 
  had 
  succeeded 
  in 
  1859 
  in 
  drilling 
  an 
  oil 
  well 
  

   near 
  Titusville, 
  Pa., 
  and 
  tapping 
  a 
  petroleum 
  reservoir 
  from 
  which 
  

   flowed 
  1,000 
  barrels 
  of 
  oil 
  a 
  day. 
  It 
  had 
  been 
  known 
  for 
  some 
  time 
  

   that 
  petroleum 
  contained 
  light 
  liquid 
  fuels 
  which 
  were 
  even 
  more 
  

   practical 
  than 
  gas 
  for 
  an 
  engine, 
  but 
  there 
  was 
  so 
  little 
  petroleum 
  

   available 
  that 
  its 
  use 
  received 
  but 
  little 
  attention. 
  Drake's 
  success 
  

  

  