490 SEC. 12. APPLIED MECHANICS. 



In this design the surface exposed to hostile fire is diminished by con- 

 structing the vessel with a central fort, armour plated all round, an armoured 

 deck under water, and dividing the space above this armoured deck for a 

 height of six feet into water-tight compartments, which would be filled with 

 fuel or water when going into action. She is intended to carry both turret 

 and broadside guns, and might be armed with a submarine gun. 



2 14 7 ad. 5 Three diagrams of new type of War Ship, 

 designed by Michael Scott in 1870, and published in 1871. 



Michael Scott. 



In this design there is a central fort, armour plated all round ; an armoured 

 deck under water sloping downwards towards the bow, so as to prevent the 

 vessel from being raked in a seaway, and strengthening the ramming stem. 

 The ship is intended to carry sail, to be dismantled before going into action, 

 her turrets to be placed abreast, and also to carry broadside guns. 



Some of the most important features in these designs have been adopted 

 in the most modern war ships. 



2150. Parent Steam Engine, made for Patrick Miller, Esq., 

 and used by him on the lake at Dalswinton, 1788. 



Bennet Woodcraft, F.R.S. 



For some years prior to 1787 Patrick Miller, Esq., of Dalswinton, Scotland, 

 had been engaged in a series of experiments with double and triple vessels 

 propelled by paddle-wheels, worked by manual labour. In the experimental 

 trips of 1786 and 1787 he was assisted by Mr. James Taylor (the tutor to his 

 younger sons), and at the suggestion of the latter it was determined to sub- 

 stitute steam power for manual labour. For this purpose, in the early part 

 of 1788, Taylor introduced William Symington, an engineer at Wanlockhead 

 Lead Mines, who had previously obtained letters patent (June 5, 1787, No. 

 1,610) for "his new invented steam engine on principles ' entirely new.'" 



An arrangement was made with Symington to apply an engine, constructed 

 according to his invention, to one of Mr. Miller's vessels, and consequently 

 the engine which forms the subject of this notice was made, the castings being 

 executed in brass by George Watt, founder, of Low Calton, Edinburgh, in 

 1788. At the beginning of October in that year the engine, mounted in a 

 frame, was placed upon the deck of a double pleasure boat, 25 ft. long by 

 7 ft., and connected with two paddle-wheels, one forward and the other abaft 

 the engine, in the space between the two hulls of the double boat. On the 

 steam being put in action it propelled the vessel along Dalswinton Lake at 

 the rate of 5 miles an hour. 



2178bc. Original Whole Model of the Steam Boat 

 " Comet." Built on the Clyde hy J. Wood for Mr. Henry Bell, 

 at Port Glasgow, 1811. Length 42 ft., breadth 11 ft., depth 5 ft. 

 6 ins. John Reid and Co. 



In August 1812, the steam passage boat " Comet," being the first steam 

 vessel ever built in Europe, began to run between Glasgow, Greenock, and 

 Helensburgh, with passengers only. She was advertised to leave the 

 Broomielaw on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays, at an hour suitable to 

 the tide, and to return from Greenock on Mpndays, Wednesdays, and 

 Fridays. The fares were 4s. for the best cabin, and 3s. for the second, and 

 no gratuities to the vessel's servants were allowed. The boat was driven by 



