298 Hydraulics for Farmers. [June, 



was thus brought to a state of rest, when the weight on the outlet 

 valve was again sufficient to close it; and the water rushing out 

 of it, created again the momentum necessary to close it, when a 

 further supply was forced into the raising main, and so the outlet 

 valve kept constantly opening and shutting, or pulsating, as it 

 may be termed, and a regular stream was made to pass up the 

 raising main. An air-chamber was attached to the last, to pro- 

 duce an uniform flow of water, similar to that used in a common 

 forcing pump. But the weight on the outlet valve was an im- 

 perfect contrivance, after all; because if the head of the water 

 varied, the weight required to be varied also; and so long as the 

 weight was the only known method of making the lam self- 

 acting, the machine did not get into general use, being found 

 oftener on the shelves of physiological cabinets than on the pre- 

 mises of the farmer. The late improvements of using springs 

 and screws, does away with the weights, and makes the hydraulic 

 ram as nearly perfect as any known machine for the same pur- 

 pose. A small vacuum valve supplies to the air-chamber, as well 

 as to the air-vessel, which makes the flow from the raising main 

 uniform, enough air to compensate for that which the water ab- 

 sorbs, besides aiding the opening of the outlet or escape valve, by 

 the partial vacuum consequent on the rebound or reaction. 



Montgolfier positively denied having borrowed the idea from 

 any one. He claimed the invention as wholly his own, and there 

 is no reason whatever to question his veracity. The same disco- 

 veries have often been and still are made in the same and distant 

 countries, independently of each other. It is a common occur- 

 rence, and from the constitution of the human mind, will always 

 be one. 



A patent was taken out in England, for self-acting rams, in 

 1797, by Mr. Boulton, the partner of Watt; and as no reference 

 was made in the specification to Montgolfier, many persons ima- 

 gined them to be of English origin — a circumstance that elicited 

 some remarks from Montgolfier. The patent was granted to 

 "Matthew Boulton, for his invention of improved apparatus and 

 methods for raising water." 



For the information of those unacquainted with the operation 

 of the hydraulic ram, it may here be well to sketch briefly its 

 operation. 



