THE CONQUEST OF NATURE 



Herr G. Daimler, who in 1884 brought out a light 

 and compact high-speed oil engine. About ten years 

 later Messrs. Panhard and Levassor devised the form 

 of motor which has since been generally adopted. Few 

 other forms of mechanisms are better known to the 

 general public than the oil engine with its two, four, 

 six, or even eight cylinders, as used in the modern 

 automobile. As everyone is aware, it furnishes the 

 favorite type of motor, combining extraordinary power 

 with relative lightness, and making it feasible to carry 

 fuel for a long journey in a receptacle of small compass. 



With the gas engines a complication arises precisely 

 opposite to that which is met with in the case of the cyl- 

 inder of the steam engine the tendency, namely, to 

 overheating of the cylinder. To obviate this it is cus- 

 tomary to have the cylinder surrounded by a water 

 jacket, though air cooling is used in certain types of 

 machines. About fifty per cent, of the total heat other- 

 wise available is lost through this unavoidable expedient. 



The rapid introduction of the gas engine in recent 

 years suggests that this type of engine may have a 

 most important future. It has even been predicted 

 that within a few years most trans-Atlantic steamers will 

 be equipped with this type of engine, producing their 

 own gas in transit. It is possible, then, that through 

 this medium the old piston-and-cylinder engine may 

 retain its supremacy, as against the turbine. For the 

 moment, at any rate, the gas engine is gaining popu- 

 larity, not merely in its application to the automobile, 

 but for numerous types of small stationary engines as 

 well. 



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