404 JAMES WATT. 
tion of an apparatus, the principle of which Watt dis- 
covered in the regulator of the sails of some flour-mills : 
this he named the governor; which is now ealled the 
centrifugal regulator. Its efficacy is such, that a few 
years ago in the cotton-spinning manufactory of a re- 
nowned mechanic, Mr. Lee, there was a clock set in 
motion by the engine of the establishment, and it showed 
no great inferiority to a common spring clock. 
Watt’s regulator, and an intelligent use of the re- 
volving principle,—that is the secret, the true secret, of 
the astonishing perfection of the industrial products of 
our epoch; this is what now gives to the steam-engine 
a rate entirely free from jerks. That is the reason why 
it can, with equal success, embroider muslins and forge 
anchors, weave the most delicate webs and communicate 
a rapid movement to the heavy stones of a flour-mill. 
This also explains how Watt had said, fearless of being 
reproached for exaggeration, that to prevent the comings 
and goings of servants, he would be served, he would 
have gruel brought to him, in case of illness, by tablets 
connected with his steam-engine. I am aware it is sup- 
posed by the generality of people, that this suavity of 
motion is obtained only by a loss of power; but it is an 
error, a gross error: the saying, “much noise and little 
work,” is true not only in the moral world, but is also an 
axiom in mechanics. 
A few words more and we shall reach the end of our. 
technical details. 
Within these few years, great advantage has been 
found in not allowing a free access of steam from the 
boiler into the cylinder, during the whole time of each 
oscillation of the engine.* This communication is inter- 
* This constituted Watt’s celebrated expansion engine, so named 
