484 JAMES WATT. 



troduction of his condenser, wliereby 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 piracj*. 

 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, 16tli 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) : — 



