COMPLETION OP IIIS ENGINE. 393 



metal cylinder in a wooden case of larger diameter, filling 

 the intermediate annular space with steam.* 



Now the engine was complete. The improvements 

 effected by Watt are evident ; there can be no doubt of 

 their immense utility. As a means of drainage, then, 

 you would expect to see them substituted for Newco- 

 men's comparatively ruinous engines. Undeceive your- 

 selves : the author of a discovery has always to contend 

 against those whose interest may be injured, the obstinate 

 partisans of every thing old, and finally, the envious. 

 And these three classes united, I regret to acknowledge 

 it, form the great majority of the public. In my calcu- 

 lation I even deduct those who are doubly influenced to 

 avoid a paradoxical result. This compact mass of oppo- 

 nents can only be disunited and dissipated by time ; yet 

 time is insufficient, it must be attacked with spirit and 

 unceasingly ; our means of attack must be varied, imitat- 

 ing the chemist in this respect, — he learning from ex- 

 perience, that the entire solution of certain amalgams 

 requires the successive application of several acids. 

 Force of character and perseverance of will, which in 

 the long run disintegrate the best woven intrigues, are 

 not always found conjoined with creative genius. In 

 case of need, Watt would be a convincing proof of this. 

 His capital invention — his happy idea on the possibility 



* It is the cylinder and piston that constitute the eminent virtue 

 of the engine, the steam being only the agent employed to work the 

 pump, so to speak. Every modification, therefore, which can promote 

 the action of this most convenient and powerful agent is a crucial ad- 

 vantage. It is, therefore, that the vast improvements made by Watt 

 —not only in working the piston-rod in the aperture of the stuffing- 

 box, but also in promoting the uniform warmth of the cylinder by a 

 jacket or outer casing— brought the steam-engine substantially to its 

 present rank. — Trantlaior. 



17 * 



