INTRODUCTION. 149 



comotion and navigation," which is held in high esteem. The author has the 

 merit of ha\ang invented the steam fire-engine, a machine of great importance in 

 populous cities. James Renwick has written several valuable treatises, among 

 which we may mention " The Application of the Science of Mechanics to Prac- 

 tical Purposes ;" and also a work " On the Steam Engine." Alexander S. Byrne 

 has published " Obser\'^tions on the best mode of propelling ships." William C. 

 Redfield's " Essays on Meteorology," and on " The Causes of Hurricanes," have 

 attracted much attention in that abstruse and unexplored field of science. It 

 must be admitted that he has ably defended his theory in opposition to that of 

 professor Espy. The labors of professor Davies in the science of pure mathe- 

 matics, and those of professor Mahan in that of mixed mathematics, and its ap- 

 pHcations in civil engineering and kindred departments, conducted, as they have 

 been, at the United States military academy in West-Point, are claimed as a 

 valuable portion of the scientific property of the state. Doctor Notts improve- 

 ment of furnaces for burning anthracite coal, has been especially useful in the 

 manufacture of machinery and in the improvement of steam navigation, as well 

 as conducive to health and the comforts of social life. An important and 

 valuable work has just issued from the press, entitled " A descriptive and histo- 

 rical account of hydraulic and other machines for raising water, ancient and 

 modern," by Thomas Ewbank of New- York. The author, who is deeply versed 

 in mechanical science, has, by a collection of rare and curious facts in the pro- 

 gress of invention, presented in a spirited yet unaffected manner, attempted to 

 disturb the popular indifference to mechanism, and to invest that science with 

 the interest of history and the charm of romance. His extensive, minute and 

 accurate account of the more important engines and machines now in use, ren- 

 ders his work exceedingly useful to the student in that department.* 



From notices of practical apphcations of science, ^ve pass to a brief review of 

 the progress of literature, and shall, for obvious reasons, dwell most upon such 

 productions as especially illustrate points in the character, condition or circum- 



♦ Notes on the Useful Arts were received from Rorus W. Griswold, E»q. 



