408 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



[November, 



times, be united with an inventive genius, and Watt himself in case of 

 need, would fiu'nish the strongest evidence of this. His admirable in- 

 vention, his happy idea of the possibility of condensing; steam in a 

 vessel entirely separated from the cylinder in which the mechanical 

 action takes place, dates from 1765. Two years elapse, and yet he 

 has hardly taken any steps to apply it on a large scale. His friends 

 at last obtained an introduction for him to Doctor Roebuck, who 

 established the Carron foundry, still enjoying a high celebrity. The 

 manufacturer and the inventor united ; Watt gave up to him two-thirds 

 of his patent, an engine is made on the new principles and confirms all 

 his theoretical provisions. His success was complete, but at this period 

 the fortune of Doctor Roebuck received a severe check ; Watt's inven- 

 tion would have doubtless restored it, all that was wanting was a 

 sleeping partner to supply funds, but Watt thought it was better to give 

 up his discovery and change his trade. 



In 1 7G7, whilst Smeaton was surveying between the rivers Firth and 

 Clyde, for one of those gigantic works of which this part of Scotland after- 

 wards became the scene, we find that Watt employed himself in similar 

 operations for a rival line by Loch Lomond. Some time after, he drew 

 up a plan for a canal to carry coal from Monkland to Glasgow, of which 

 he superintended the execution. Several plans of the same kind, and, 

 among others, of a navigable canal across the isthmus of Crinan, since 

 finished by Rennie ; extensive plans for the improvement of the ports of 

 Ayr, Glasgow, and Grenoek ; the construction of bridges at Hamilton 

 and Rutherglen ; and an investigation of the ground across which the 

 famous Caledonian canal was to pass, then occupied our colleague until 

 the end of 1773. Without detracting from the merit of these labours, I 

 must be permitted to consider their importance as merely local, and to 

 assert that their conception, direction, or execution woiild never have 

 given a name like that of James Watt. 



If forgetting my duties to the academy, I endeavoured to make you 

 smile instead of relating what is useful and true, I could find here matter 

 enough for a striking contrast. I could remind you of such and such an 

 author, who, in our weekly meetings, demands loudly to communicate 

 this little remark, that trifling reflexion, the few notes drawn up only the 

 evening before ; I would paint him to you cursing his fate, when the 



Fig. 10. 



ruin 



St, m 





U=J 



BOULTON AND WATT'S SINGLE ACTING STEAM 

 ENGINE. 



Fig. 10, shows a section of the cylinder C, condenser B, and air pump A, of 

 a single engine, arranged as is most convenient for exhibiting the parts. The 

 steam enters from the boiler to the cylinder by the pipe S, through the valve 

 c; and presses down the piston P, which is supposed to be taken at the 

 time of its descent : the steam below it goes into the condenser, and is con- 

 densed by the jet wliich plays into it, Tlie air pump bucket p is descending 

 in the air and vapour which the pump had received from the condenser 

 during the previous ascent, Wlien the piston is at the bottom of the cylin- 

 der, a motion is given to the rod O, which shuts the valves a and c, and 

 opens the valve 6; there is tliea a communication open by the pipe E, be- 

 tween the top and bottom of the cylinder, and the pressure of the counter 

 ■weight must be suilicient to overcome the friction of the piston, and expel 

 the steam from the upper to the lower side of the piston : tlie action of the 

 counter weight has also to expel the air and water of condensation through 

 the valvt Q by means of the air pump. 



strict letter of the regulations, when the earlier order of inscription * 

 of some other member puts ofl' the reading of it for another week, leaving 

 to him, however, as a guarantee dming this wretched week, its being in 

 safe custody in our archives as a sealed packet. On the other hand, we 

 should see the creator t of a machine destined to form an e])0ch in the 

 amials of the world, submit without murmur to the stupid cajirices of 

 capitalists, and bend down his superior genius during eight years to the 

 compilation of plans, to minute surveys, to tedious details of estimates, of 

 repairs, and of square yards of masonry. Let us confine ourselves to re- 

 marking, that this conduct of Watt arose from a serenity of character, a 

 moderation of wishes, and genuine modesty. So much indifference, 

 however noble might have been the reasons for it, is still open to blame : 

 society is in the right to reprobate in the strongest terms those of its 

 members who by hoarding prevent the circulation of the specie of the 

 country ; is it, however, less blameable to deprive one's native land antl 

 fellow countrymen, one's fellow men, of those treasures a thousand 

 times more valuable, which spring from the mind, hoarding u]) for one's 

 self those immortal conceptions, sources of the noblest and piu'est mental 

 enjoyments, and in depriving of them, the mamifacturers of mechanical 

 combinations, who would multijily to infinity the produce of national in- 

 dustry ; which would to break down for the benefit of civilization and 

 of the human race, the effects of an iniequal position in society, which one 

 day would allow us to go through the rudest workshops, without witnessing 

 the melancholy sight of fathers of families, and unfortunate children of 

 both sexes reduced to the state of brutes, and moving rapidly towards 

 the tomb. 



In the beginning of 1774, after having overcome the indifference of 

 Watt, he was placed in communication uith Mr. Boulton, of Soho, 

 near Birmingham, a man of enterprise, activity, and varied talents. J The 

 two partners applied to parliament for a prolongation of Watt's patent, 

 which was taken out in 1709, and had only a few years to run. The 

 bill gave rise to a shaq) debate. " This business," says the celebrated 

 engineer in a letter to his aged father, " could only be carried on witli 

 considerable trouble and expense. Without the help of some warm 

 hearted friends we should not have succeeded, for many most influ- 

 ential members of the House of Commons were opposed to us." It 

 seemed to me worthy of enquiry, to ascertain what class of society 

 belonged these influential members of whom Watt speaks, who refused 

 to a man of genius, a small part of the riches which he was going 

 to create. Judge of my surpiise, when 1 found at their head, the 

 celebrated Burke ! Can it be true, that a man can distinguish himself 

 by the most arduous studies, be a man of learning and probity, possess 

 in an eminent degree those oratorical qualities which lead and carry 

 away political assemblies, and yet be diflicient in simple common 

 sense ?$ However, since the wise and important amendments which 

 Lord Brougham has introduced into the patent laws, inventors will no 

 longer be subjected to those protracted annoyances to which Watt was 

 exposed. 



As soon as parliament had granted an extension of Watt's patent for 

 twenty-five years, this mechanic and Boulton, in conjunction, commenced 

 at Soho, those establishments which have proved the most useful schools 

 in England of practical mechanics. Steam-engines for draining were 

 erected on a very large scale ; and repeated experiments showed that 

 with equal eflfect, they saved three-quarters of the fuel previously used 



* In French assemblies all speakers put down their names in a list, from which they 

 are called in rotation to deliver Ihei* discourses, this prevails even in the Cliambcrs, 

 it leads to a dull monotony, and is destructive of the oratorical character.— A'oie of 

 the translator. 



t We recollect an old friend of ours, one of the philosophical circle of the last 

 century, who used to tell an appropriate anecdote on the snbject of M. Arago'a 

 favoniite prlmse, the creative power of a mechanic. He himself, in a trial on the 

 validity of a patent, had used the same remark, when the judge anxious to have a 

 quiet fling at a witness, who was on all such occasions quite imbrotcbeatable, ex- 

 claimed, Creative power of a mechanic! why pray Mr. R. wiiat do you mean by that? 

 Wliy, my Lord, 1 mean, that power which enables a man to convert a goat's tail into 

 a judge's wig.— iVote of the traivtlator. 



t In the notes of the last edition of Professor Robison's work on the steam engine. 

 Watt speaks in these terms of Mr. Boulton. "The friendship with which he favuurwl 

 me, ended only with his life, that which I felt towards hiui obliges nie to take advantage 

 of this opportunity, the last perhaps which may be allowed me, of acknowledging How 

 much 1 am indebletl to him. It is to Mr. Bonlton's ready encouragement, his taste for 

 scientific pursuits, and the skill with which lie knew how to make Uiem contribute to tl»€ 

 progress of the arts ; it is also to his intimate acquaintance with manufacturing and 

 commercial atlairs, that I attribute in a great degree the success with which my elfurls 

 have been crowned." 



Mr. Boulton's manufactory, at Soho, had already been established for some years, 

 when the partnership was formed which is mentioned in the text. This establishment, 

 the first on such a great scale wtiich has been formed in England, is still further remark- 

 able in the present day, for the elegance of its architecture. Boulton manufactured 

 there all kinds of first-rate works, in sleel, plated ware, silver, aud or-iuolu, even 

 astronomical clocks and paintings on glass. Dining the last twenty years of his life, 

 Boulton was employed in improvements in minting money. By the combination of 

 some processes originally French (?; with new presses, and an ingenious appiicaUon of 

 the steam engine, he succeeded in uniting great rapidity of execution, witli extrenie 

 perfection in detail. It was Boulton, who elfected for the English Government, 

 the re-coinage of all the copper money of tlie epipire. The economy and neatness of 

 this great work rendered false imitations almost impossible. The numerous executions 

 with which, until then, the Cities of London aud Birmingham had been afflicted, entirely 

 ceased, and on tliis occasion Darwin in his Botanic Garden demands, wliy if at Rom« 

 a civic crown was ^iven to him who saved the life of a single citizen, is not BoultOD 

 worthy of bein" covered by us witli garlands of oak. 



Mr.'BouUou died in 1809, aged il.—Note of it. Arago. 



§ It is not only very possible, but very certain, and perhaps is the reason why in Eng- 

 land political aud scientihc distinctions are considered as didcreul — Aoie of tlie Trans 

 lator. 



