988 Transactions of the Aiierican Institute. 



passing it through a number of wires, forming many short circuits. 

 In other words, the positive wire has a number of branches, which 

 pass to the different magnets, tlie same being brought together 

 again to form the magnetic wire, the only caution being necessary 

 is to have all the routes or circuits of precisely the same length. 



The armatures are attached to a single rod, and vibrate simulta- 

 neously, being attracted in one direction by the magnets, and drawn 

 back again by the elastic force of a spring. The stroke of the 

 armatures is about one-twentieth of an inch. The short stroke of 

 the armatures is increased to three-eio-hths of an^nch throuofh the 

 agency of multiplying levers. It is simply a straight lever, pivoted 

 at one end. The rod or stem to which the armatures are attached 

 is connected near the pivot. 



The stroke of the multiplying lever is communicated to the axle 

 of the driving wheel, to which it imparts a rotary motion. It does 

 not pass directly to the driving wheels, but through a toggle-joint, 

 for the purpose of equalizing the pressure of the magnets. For 

 example, as the armatures are withdrawn from the magnets, their 

 attractive force diminishes as the square of the distance passed 

 over. A toggle-joint may be so proportioned that its power or 

 leverage will increase as the square of the distance passed over. 

 Both are so arranged, that when the magnets are at their weakest 

 point, the toggle-joint is at its strongest, and vice versa. By this 

 means, the force of the magnets is equalized, and the pulling power 

 of the engine always the same. 



The reciprocating motion of the toggle-joint is communicated to 

 the driving wheels, not by a crank as in Page's engine, but by 

 what would be most readily understood as a pawl and rachet wheel. 

 The wheel, hoAvever, is smooth, the pawl acting on the same by 

 friction, and is noiseless in its operation. The liability of a crank 

 to stick on the center, is thereby avoided, and the magnets acting 

 nearly all the time, are much more effective than when combined 

 with the crank movement, when they are acting but half of the time. 

 ■ The current is opened and closed by a current breaker, which is 

 operated by the vibrating lever, and is most perfect in its operation. 

 By long use, one of the platinum ribs becomes enlarged at the 

 expense of the other.. By reversing the current, the metal is rede- 

 posited to the point from which it was transferred, and the points 

 can thus be preserved for an indetinite length of time. 



"When put in operation, it continues to run without any attention 

 till the batterv is exhausted, which c^enerall^y requires about three 



