Chap. IX.] Mcchaiiic Arts. 115 



land ; by Lambert and Karstner, of Germany ; and 

 by Elvius, of Sweden, make a very interesting part 

 of the mechanical history of the age. 



Equally wortliy of attention are the successive 

 inventions and improvements of modern times, in 

 the construction of all kinds oUVhcel Carriages, 

 To enumerate these, and to attempt to give a list 

 of their authors, would be an endless task. Suffice 

 it to say, that the superiority of modern wheel- 

 carriages, over those possessed by our predeces- 

 sors, in lightness, elegance, beauty of form, and 

 convenience, is very great, and constitutes one of 

 the mechanical honours of the age. 



Great improvements have been made, during the 

 age under consideration, in the construction of 

 engines for extinguishing fires. The efficiency of 

 those enjrines which have been formed for this 

 purpose within the last twenty or thirty years, 

 compared with those which were in use at the be- 

 ginning of the century, is wonderfully great. The 

 addition of an air-cell to these machines, by Mr. 

 Newsham, of London, greatly increased their 

 power, and deserves to be mentioned as an nn- 

 portant event in the course of their improve- 

 ment 



In the art o^ Coining several important inventions 

 have been produced, in the course of the last cen- 

 tury, which are worthy of being remembered. Pro- 

 bably the most conspicuous ami valuable ot these is 

 that by Mr. Boulton, of Soho, Birmingham. '' He 

 has lately constructed a most magnificent apparatus 

 for coining, which has cost him some thousand 

 pounds. The whole machinery is moved by an 

 improved steam-engine, which rolls the copper 



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