1840.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



43 



self; and to say that tliis is the source of the heat, is tantamount to 

 saying that cold water is not merely able to raise itself into 

 steam, but to leave a considerable surplus of heat after having 

 done so. We have no altem.itive then but to conclude that combus- 

 tion does go on in this gentleman's furnace, if it be iu action at all. If 

 there is combustion, that combustion is either perfect, or imperfect: 

 if perfect, there is no necessity for any appliance, either smoke con- 

 sumptive or smoke preventive : if imper/ect, it is not gas but smoke 

 that is evolved, for tlie very definition of smoke is the product of im- 

 perfect combustion. This furnace is therefore a smoke generating, 

 and consequently a smoke burning furnace. He may gay otherwise. 

 He may call it a patent Argand, or patent any-other-and, but a smoke 

 burning furnace il i«, and we defy him and his legion of chemical pro- 

 fessors to prove the contrary. 



Upon what ground then can we be called upon to believe that this 

 smoke burning proji>ct will be one whit more beneficial than other 

 smoke burning projects, in all essential points identical with it ? And 

 what shall we say of those who have lent themselves to the reputable 

 endeavour of puffing oft' the paltry nostrum ? Of such men as Mr. 

 Brande and Dr. Ure, it is painful to be obliged to speak in any other 

 terms than those of commendation and respect. Their names are 

 household words: and we are distressed at anticipating the possibility 

 of such names becoming epithets of contempt, instead of continuing to 

 be expressions of reverence and admiration. We trust therefore that 

 the attempt to elevate this ponderous gentleman, will be relinquished. 

 The attempt exhibits much good nature, but very little good sense — 

 and it mint be unsuccessful. A tortoise can never be taught to fly by 

 being hoisted into the air — and though a dunghill cock may by dint 

 of estmordinary exertions wing a flight of 20 yards at the height of 

 three feet above the surface of our planet, yet the achievement only 

 serves to show that he is any thing but an eagle, and that his native 

 mire is his most a^jpropri.ite element. There is no real kindness in 

 trying to raise this gentleman out of his appropriate and very humble 

 sphere ; and is Mr. Brande so confident of the imperishable virtue of 

 his laurels as to suppose that they have nothing to sufter from so ill 

 judged an attempt? Is Mr. Brande likely to enhance his own reputa- 

 tion, or the value of his art, in the estimation of [ftactical men by tell- 

 ing tliem that the product of the dtstructive distillation of coal is 

 rendered uninflammable by mixing with the cold air in the chimney, 

 and at the same time praising a project possessing to correct the evil 

 by introducing a still larger quantity of cold air into the flues than is 

 usual ? Of Dr. L're's attainments in every department of the philoso- 

 phy of the arts there can be but one opinion; and we should perhaps 

 attach a value to his praise commensurate w ith our sense of his ability, 

 had we tha iissurance that he was a landed proprietor of ten thousand 

 a year, whicli we regret to find is not the case. It is really a reproach 

 to this country that abilities like Dr. L're's should be wasted in the 

 ignoble occupation of compiling or revising specifications of patents, 

 and furnishing encomiums to patentees ; and we do trust that the 

 award of some adequate place or pension to this distinguished philoso- 

 pher, will speedily remove such a stigma from cur land. As to Doctor 

 Kane of the Apothecaries Hall, Doctor Brett and Mr. Something a 

 chemist of Leeds, we need only say that we shall not condescend to 

 notice such celebrated gentlemen, further than to assure them that 

 they would find much more reputable occupation behind their counters 

 ili^ipensiiig mercurial pills and doses of Glauber, than in soliloquising 

 aijout things of which they know nutlii g. They may save themselves 

 the trouble of casting t/iiir perfume upon the violet. Engineers and 

 boiler makers know their business much too well to lack instruction 

 from a p.ick of effervescent chemists and drupgi>ts. 



Having shown that this gentleman has failed in i<roducing any con- 

 trivance capable of giving practical efficacy to the smoke preventive 

 principle, it only remains that we should ascertain whether he is en- 

 titled to the merit (if it be anyj, of having been the first to suggest 

 that principle— the first to distinctly enunciate the doctrine that ihe 

 smoke preventive principle is practically applicable and peculiarly 

 beneficial. The circumstance of having himself failed of making any 

 practical application of this principle, does not deprive him of what- 



ever honour miy be attached to the distinction of having been the 

 first to suggest it for practical application in the furnaces of steam 

 boilers. This point must be decided chiefly upon the evidence of 

 dates, and as the inquiry is only of collateral interest, we must hurry 

 over it as quickly as we can. 



The first edition of Mr. Williams's book on combustion was pub- 

 lished in 1>)4U, but po<!(no:- to the essay entitled "Thoughts on Steam 

 Locomotion," pui)lished the same year, from which we have already 

 given a quotation. This essay is anonymous, but is, we understand, 

 ascribed to Mr. Bourne, and it contains a clear though a concise 

 exposition of the principles and advantages of smoke -prevention. 

 'Ihis gentleman's patent was, it is true, taken out in 1S3'.'; but Mr. 

 Bourne, we are informed, has a patent for the same thing, of the date 

 ISS?, and a paper descriptive of this patent, written iu l^S?, and now 

 before us, describes the patent to be for the " prevention of smoke, 

 and economiiation of fuel." We have also before us a copy of a letter 

 written by Mr. Bourne in ]S3',of the date September, which develops 

 in the first pLce, the hopelessness of the endeavour to burn smoke ; 

 and in the second, the benefit derivable from the smoke-^jrereri/ire 

 principle, which is shewn to be practic;il!y available. "Smoke," says 

 this letter, "cannot be effectually burned ; the object should therefore 

 be to prevent its formation." We have also before us reports by Dr. 

 Lardner and Mr. Farey, of the date of January, IbSS, relative to Mr. 

 Bourne's invention, and other papers and documents, which it is un- 

 necessary to mention. Now, up to the end of 1^37, Mr. Charles Wye 

 Williams had done nothing whatever in smoke-prevention. In liSS, 

 even, he was occupied, not with schemes for the prevention of smoke, 

 but with projects for making resin and other artificial fuel — projects, 

 of which the smoke-] reventive project was the immediate successor, 

 — whilst we have evidence which shows that Mr. Bourne's experi- 

 ments tentative and illustrative of the advantages of smoke-prevention, 

 extend as far back as 1''34, years before this gentleman had turned 

 his attention to the subject. 



So far we have only shown that Mr. Williams has no pretensions to 

 that priority in the development of the superiority of the principle of 

 smoke prevention claimed for him by some of his certificate-monger- 

 ing encomiasts. Let us go a step further and inquire whether he is 

 entitled to the merit of independent development or invention. Hf 

 may, at the time he commenced his operations, have been in perfect 

 ignorance of all Mr. Bourne had previously said or done. Our readers 

 will find little difficultv in concluding whether or not he Kas in igno- 

 rance, when we inform them that the letter which we have already 

 mentioned as containing a complete development of the principles 

 and advantages of smoke-prevention, written in September, 1"53", was 

 addressed to Mr. Williams himself, confidentially, at his invitation ; 

 and that it was shortly after the reception of this letter that Mr. 

 Wilhains threw aside resin fuel, compressed peat, and a host of kin- 

 dred projects, and commenced might and main upon his own account, 

 on the sraoke-preventive plan. 



ON EXPLOSIONS OF STE.\M BOILERS. 



I.v another part of the Journal we have given the evidence taken 

 before the coroner at an inquest held in consequence of the death of 

 several individuals, occasioned by the bursting of a boiler at Messrs. 

 Elce i: Cottam's munufactorv- at Manchester. We now have an op- 

 portunity of giving the translation of a letter from Mr. Jobard, of 

 Brussels, to the Baron Seguier, on the principal cause of the explosion 

 of steam boilers, which may throw some new light on the cause of 

 the accident. 



"When the water in a boiler becomes so low as to leave some part 

 of the sides CNpdsed to the direct action of the fire, those parts arc 

 raised to a red heat ; the received opinion is, that the steam, coming 

 iu contact with the heated iron, is decomposed, and fortns hydrogen 



