WITH NOTES. 489 



bon glit up all the Marquis of Worcester s books that 

 he could purchase in Pater- Noster-Rolo, and elsewhere, 

 and burned them in the presence of the gentleman his 

 friend, who told me this. He said that he found out 

 the power of steam by chance, and invented the follow 

 ing story to persuade people to believe it, viz., that 

 having drank a flask of Florence at a tavern, and 

 thrown the empty flask upon the fire, he called for 

 a bason of water to wash his hands, and perceiving 

 that the little wine left in the flask had filled up the 

 flask with steam, he took the flask by the neck, and 

 plunged the mouth of it under the surface of the water 

 in the bason, and the water of the bason was imme 

 diately driven up into the flask by the pressure of the 



air.&quot; 



Desaguliers doubts the veracity of this bottle story, 

 and we may well agree with him, when we find that 

 in another version the discovery is attributed to a 

 tobacco-pipe. 



He proceeds : &quot; Captain Savery made a great many 

 experiments to bring this machine to perfection, and 

 did erect several, which raised water very well for 

 gentlemen s seats ; but could not succeed for mines, or 

 supplying towns, where the water was to be raised 

 very high, and in great quantities : for then the steam 

 required being boiled up to such a strength, as to be 

 ready to tear all the vessels to pieces. I have known 

 Captain Savery, at York-Buildings, make steam eight 

 or ten times stronger than common air ; and then its 

 heat was so great, that it would melt common soft 

 solder ; and its strength so great as to blow open several 

 of the joints of his machine : so that he was forced to 

 be at the pains and charge to have all his joints soldered 

 with spelter or hard solder.&quot; Pp. 464-467. 



The serious accusation made against Savery of deriv- 



