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THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECTS JOURNAL. 



[April, 



trivances requireil in all its details', much lias been done ; with further ex- 

 perience, it is not improbable but that much more will be eti'ected. Pil- 

 brow in 1S44, patented a niodificatiou of the system, which is ingenious, 

 but has not yet been sufficientlj tested by experience to prove its merit. 

 Halletle proposed to improve the valve on the top of the atmospheric pipe, 

 by means of two small inflated elastic tubes, lixed in grooves on each side 

 of the opening on the top of the pipe, through which the rod attached to 

 the piston should slide between the tubes, and which should close the 

 orifice as the piston moved. This ingenious idea requires the test of ex- 

 perience. 



Steam Navigation. 



The extraordinary improvement in the mode of communication, which 

 has been effected by steam power and railways on land, had been preceded 

 by equally surprising and iniponaut ell'ecls produced by the application of 

 steam to sea and river navigation. The vast increase of personal inter- 

 course between people of dilTerent nations separated by the ocean, which 

 has resulted from thi.s great discovery, and which is still augmenting, has 

 operated more than any other invention on record (not even excepting 

 printing, which has been greaily extended by steam) towards realising 

 what was once considered Utopian — the bringing of the various nations of 

 the world together, and uniiiug mankind* into one great family, working 

 harmoniously together for their common good. The steam engine, in its 

 various and numerous applications, may justly be styled the grand im- 

 prover and civiliser of the age. It is a gigantic yet docile labourer, 

 equally well adapted for extracting fuel and other minerals from the bowels 

 of the earth, as for performing all kinds of toilsome, complicated, or deli- 

 cate operations, whether for forging the ponderous anchor and cable to 

 preserve the gigantic vessel of war from shipwreck, or for weaving the 

 most delicate web for a lady's garment. Its power can be increased to 

 ain.ost any extent, and it can be made to perform, with a degree of ce- 

 lerity, economy, and skill, every operation which formerly could be exe- 

 cuted by the human hand alone, and an almost infinite variety of others, 

 which without it could never have been attempted. It may also be em- 

 ployed as a means of conveying meichandise and travellers from one place 

 to another, whether for business or pleasure, with a degrte of certainty, 

 expedition, convenience, and economy attainable by no other agent. The 

 increase of commerce, national industry, and wealth, as well as greater 

 personal intercourse between nations, serves to dissipate prejudices, and 

 to create reciprocal good feelinj'S towards each other, and thus to promote 

 peace; but if, unhappily, war should ensue, then by the increased facility 

 aflbrded for attack and defence, steam would equally serve to shorten its 

 duration by rendering the results more decisive, and making mankind less 

 willing to embark in it. 



The origin of the application of steam for propelling vessels is claimed 

 by several individuals of diH'ereut nations ; but it is generally admitted 

 that to Great Itritain is due the merit of having introduced and established 

 the successful practice of the present age. 'J"he application of wheels to 

 propel boats dates as far back as the Koraans ; in 1GS2, Prince Rupert's 

 barge was propelled in a similar manner, and tug vessels, with wheels 

 worked by horses, for towing vessels against wind and tide, were pro- 

 posed. I'apiu proposed, in lti90, to propel boats by racks and pinions 

 with pistons working in steam cylinders ; Jilasco de Oaray, a Spaniard, is 

 said to have made an experiment on propelling a vessel in the presence of 

 the Emperor Charles V., at Barcelona, in 1543. The experiment is re- 

 ported to have succeeded, and received the approbation of the emperor, 

 who paid all the expenses. The invention, if it existed, died with the 

 inventor, and nothing further was heard of it, until after the introduction 

 of steam navigation, when the statement was made in order to claim for 

 Spain the merit of this great invenlioii. Had this claim been brought 

 forward earlier, and published to the wtirld, it might perhaps have been 

 allowed ; but appearing at this lime, it could have no influence, and must 

 clearly be regarded as in no way inlerlVring with the title of Great Britain 

 to the discovery. Jonathan Hulls, in 1737, published a small pamphlet, 

 wherein he gives a plate representing a boat with a wheel attached to the 

 stern, driveu by a steam engine to propel the boat, and tugging behind her 

 a vessel of war. 'I'his is clearly the first representation on record of a steam 

 boat. He took out a patent for the invention ; but experienced so much 

 opposition from jirejudice, that he does not appear to have prosecuted it 

 afterwards. Hulls proposed to apply Newcomen's engine for propelling 

 the wheel, but as it was very dithcult to produce rotatory motion with that 

 kind of engine, that may have been one reason why it was abandoned. 

 Savery proposed, in 109s, to apply manual power to the capstan of a ship, 

 by the intervention of a wheel ami pinion for turning paddle-wheels at- 

 tached to the sides of the vessel; and, at a later period. Captain Burton 

 proposed a similar plan. All idea, however, of bringing the invention to 

 bear appears to have been laid aside until 1705, when the mechanical and 

 scientific vvorld had again turned their atleniion towards the improvement 

 of the steam engine, and Dr. Kobison, of Edinburgh, proposed to \V att to 

 apply steam h»r propelling vessels on land and by sea. M alt, however, at 

 that time had not made sulhcient progress with bis invention, to enable him 

 to take up and work out the idea wiih suflicient prospect of success, as it 

 is evident that he could not have considered Newcomen's engine at all cal- 

 culated for the purpose; \\ att, therefore, confined his views to perfecting 

 his engine, foreseeing, no doubt, that when once that end was accom- 

 plished, other important results would follow. 



The subject ot steam boats still lay dormant fur a time. In 1782, the 



Marquis de Jouifroi is said to have made a steam boat, 140 feet long and 

 15 feel wide, which was tried on the Seine at Lyons, but it was not suc- 

 cessful. About the year 17S7, Walt had so far perfected his steam-engine, 

 and rendered it capable of producing rotatory motion, as to enable it to 

 turn mills: he had thus overcome one of the principal difliculiies, and pre- 

 pared the way for the introduction of the modern system of steam naviga- 

 tion ; but although numerous atiempts were made with imperfect engines 

 for propelling vessels, even after \V alt had obtained patents for bis im- 

 proved engines, yet it was not until after the expiration of his patent for 

 the rotatory engine, in IHOll, that it was applied to steam vessels. 



About the year 1788, Fitch and Kamsey, of America, and Serratti, of 

 Italy, appear to have tried some experiments, and thus tfiey lay claim to 

 the invention, but upon this point there is no accurate information, in the 

 same year, .^liller, of Ualswinton, constructed a double boat, Cu feet long, 

 with two paddle-wheels in the centre, to be moved by manual labour, in 

 order to race with another boat propelled by oars in the usual manner ; it 

 wns tried upon the sea near Leith, when Miller beat bis competitor, and 

 the elfect of this experiment convinced him, that power only was wanting 

 to bring the invention to perfection. Tay lor proposed to apply the steam 

 engine for this purpose, and he then applied to Symington, a practical en- 

 gineer of the day (who had previously proposed some improvements in 

 Newcomen's engine, and had made a model showing how it might be ap- 

 p ied for the purpose of propelling carriages), in order to assist him in 

 applying the sieara engine for working paddle-wheels. A steam engine 

 with two cylinders, 4 inches in diameter, each of about onehorse power, 

 was accordingly made by Symington and Taylor, and was applied to drive 

 the paddle-wheels in the centre of the double boat, employed for pleasure 

 on Ualswinton Lake, in the middle of October 1788, when it attained a 

 velocity of about 3 miles an hour. The success of this experiment was 

 compleie as far as it went, and established beyond doubt the merits of the 

 discovery ; it therefore induced the ingenious and persevering projectors 

 to prosecute it further by making another vessel of the same dimensions as 

 the former one, to be worked by an engine on a larger scale. The engine 

 was made at C'arron, and was of a peculiar construction, in order to avoid 

 infringement on Watt's patent; it had two atmospheric cylinders of 18 

 inches diameter, the pistons of which were connected wiih a lever acting 

 alternately and by means of chains; pulley-wheels and ratchets turned 

 two paddle-wheels, one being placed before the other, in ihe space between 

 the two parts of the double boat. This machinery, it will be observed, 

 was similar to HuUs's plan; improved, however, by having two cylinders. 

 The boats and engines were completed, and Ihe^ experiment was tried on 

 the Forth and Clyde canal, on the 2Gth December, 1789, and was still 

 more successful than Ihe first, having attained a velocity of 4 or 5 miles an 

 hour. An account of this experiment was published in the Edinburgh 

 newspapers of the day. The signal success of this second steam boat 

 rendered further experiments unnecessary, and it now only remained to 

 bring it into practical operation. Messrs. Miller, Symington, and Taylor 

 had proved to the world the merits of the discovery, and not wishing to 

 incur further expense or trouble in combating the prejudices and opposition 

 of mankind, which invariably obstruct the introduction and prosecution of 

 every great invention, did not prosecute the subject further, but left it to 

 others to work out and develop the powers of their exiraoidinary inven- 

 tion, which was destined, at no distant period, to produce such a wonder- 

 ful revolution in the social world. The engines and machinery were ac- 

 cordingly taken out, and deposited at the C'arron Works, and the boat, 

 which was only a pleasure-boat, and fit for no other purpose, was trans- 

 ferred back to the lake of Dalswiuton, and again applied to its original 

 purpose. Mr. Miller returned to his agricultural pursuits; Taylor to 

 his profession of a tutor ; and Symington to his profession of a practical 

 engineer. 



In 17U3, Ramsay made some experiments for propelling a vessel by 

 forcing water out of the stern by a steam engine : this does not appear to 

 have answered. 



In 1795, Earl Stanhope, well known for his mechanical genius, tried an 

 experiment lor propelling a vessel, by means of a propeller in the form of 

 a duck's foot; and about the same time Smith fitted a boat with an atmo- 

 spheric engine on the Sankey Canal ; none of these experiments, amidst 

 several others which were tried, appear to have been very successful ; the 

 great difhcully seems to have been in producing the rotatory motion by the 

 steam engine employed for the purpose, and it is singular that none of them 

 tried Watt's engine, which had then become generally known, and BoultOQ 

 and Watt themselves were too busy in making their engines for the numer- 

 ous mills and waterworks then becoming daily more general, to turn their 

 attention to fresh speculations, the issue of which was at that time doubt- 

 ful, and which did not promise to be so lucrative. 



In 18UI, Lord Dundas, who took great interest in mechanical pursuits, 

 employed Symington to construct a steam boat; this vvas propelled by an 

 engine on W att's plan, having one cylinder placed horizunlally, and the 

 pision, with a stroke of 4 feet in length, wasjointed at the extremity, and 

 allacbcd to a connecling rod, with a crank at one end, turning a paddle- 

 wheel, placed in a well-hole at the stern of the vessel, which had two rud- 

 ders, one on each side of the cavity in which the paddle-wheel was placed. 

 This was the first practical working steam vessel with an engiue on W all's 

 system, and was called the ' Charlotte Dundas;' it was employed for tow- 

 ing vessels on the Forth and Clyde canal, and answered its purpose com- 

 pletely, but the proprietors of the canal objected to its being continued, in 

 consequence of ihe agitation of the water produced by the paddle-wheels, 

 which tbey alleged nuuld injure the banks of the canal. 



