484 JAMES WATT. 
troduction of his condenser, whereby he gained one of the 
greatest steps towards making the engine what it is, quad- 
rupled its power, and gave to it the docility and powers of 
adaptation of almost animal existence,—if he had done no 
more than this, he was entitled to a world’s gratitude, and 
to all the honours of an original inventor. But it was not 
this that marked the fertility of his mind, but the perfec- 
tion of his engine by an organization which has made it 
so powerful and yet so perfect, which has given it a smooth- 
ness of action and almost vital adaptability to every kind 
of work, and which will ever excite the admiration of every 
mind conversant with the beauty of mechanical design. 
So valuable an invention did not escape.constant piracy. 
Engines began to be erected on the principles of separate 
condensation, which not only infringed the patent rights, but 
from their miserable construction brought discredit on engines 
as a class; so that Boulton and Watt were compelled at last, 
however reluctantly, to commence a long series of legal pro- 
ceedings, which at length fully established the validity of their 
patent. 
To show the progress that was made in the construction of 
engines, and the immense importance of their manufacture, 
we quote from a recent work on the Mechanical Inventions of 
James Watt, by James Muirhead, Esq., the number of engines 
constructed at Soho. 
“ Memorandum. 
Soho Foundry, 16th March, 1854. 
“The number and power of the engines made by Messrs. 
Boulton, Watt, and Co., to the date January, 1824, were thus 
reckoned by the late Mr. Boulton and Mr. Creighton (one of 
his assistants at Soho) :— uf 
