1847.] Hydraulics for Farmers. 297 



the introduction of an air-vessel, without which all apparatus of 

 the kind could never be made durable, strengthens his claims to 

 our regard. In this machine he has shown that the mere act of 

 drawing water from long tubes, for ordinary purposes, may serve 

 to raise a portion of their contents to a higher level; an object 

 that does not appear to have been previously attempted, or even 

 thought of. Notwithstanding the advantages derived from such 

 an apparatus, under circumstances similar to those indicated by 

 the figure, it does not appear to have elicited the attention of en- 

 gineers; nor does Whitehurst himself seem to have been aware 

 of its adaptation as a substitute for forcing-pumps, in locations 

 where the water drawn from the cock was not required, or could 

 not be used. 



i\Tontgolfier's Ram. 



To Montgolfier, of France, are we indebted for the discovery, 

 or rather the improvement of this useful machine — hence its name, 

 Montgolfier' s Ram. 



The belier hydrauliqiie of Montgolfier was invented in 1796. 

 Although it is on the principle of Whitehurst's machine, its in- 

 vention is believed to have been entirely independent of the latter. 

 But if it were even admitted that Montgolfier was acquainted 

 with what Whitehurst had done, still he has, by his improve- 

 ments, made the ram entirely his own. He found it a compara- 

 tively useless device, and he rendered it one of the most efficient. 

 It was neglected or forgotten, and he not only revived it, but gave 

 it a permanent place among hydraulic machines, and actually 

 made it the most interesting of them all. 



The device by which Montgolfier made the ram self-acting, is 

 one of the neatest imaginable. It is unique. There never was 

 any thing like it in practical hydraulics, or in the whole range of 

 the arts; and its simplicity is equal to its novelty and useful ef- 

 fects. Perhaps it may be said that he only added a valve to 

 Whitehurst's machine. Be it so; but that simple valve instantly 

 changed, as by magic, the whole character of the apparatus. 



Montgolfier's great improvement, which made the machine self- 

 acting, was to substitute an outlet valve, shutting upwards, in 

 placeof the cock used by Whitehurst, which valve was weighted 

 so as just to open when the water in the main pipe w^as in a state 

 of rest. But the moment the outlet valve was opened by the 

 weight upon it, the water which then rushed out acquired a power 

 in addition to its gravity — the poiver of its momentum — which 

 was sufficient to close the outlet valve, when the same effect was 

 produced that was produced by the shutting of the cock, and a 

 jet of water was thrown upwards into the smaller pipe, which 

 may be called the " raising main." The water in the main pipe 



